


Drink The Sea Records

by eshcaine



Series: Drink the Sea Records [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 1980s, 80's Music, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Music Store, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Aural Kink, Benstina, Blood and Gore, Blow Jobs, Demons, Destiel - Freeform, Duran Duran - Freeform, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Ghosts, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Loneliness, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Missing You, Other, Patti Smith, Rough Kissing, Roughness, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Assault, So get this, Sonic Kink, Sparring, Summoning Ritual, The Violent Femmes, record store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-24
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-12 21:15:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eshcaine/pseuds/eshcaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring - 1983</p><p>Castiel Novak and Anna Milton work in Benny Lafitte's record store, and frankly, Cas could use some cheering up.</p><p>A follow up to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713<br/>High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and John Winchester is an established Hunter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hold Me Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Malcolm McLaren - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_McLaren  
> Manager of the Sex Pistols

 

The record store sat on the corner of 5th and Main.

It had been there for years, opening back in the days when Benny Goodman played big band over the airwaves and victory gardens grew in backyards all around town. Its front door faced 5th street but it had a wide square picture window facing Main. The front entry was a set of overly tall double doors that had been crafted during the turn of the century and had beautiful brass handles and detailing. In the past the window facing Main had been posted with large images of Tommy Dorsey, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Supremes, Parliament-Funkadelic, James Brown and The Who. Some of those still held their spot in the window but were now crowded around by Michael Jackson, The Police, U2, and the Sex Pistols. The original owner, R.C. Adams, had opened it when he had quit being a percussionist for a vaudeville show in the later 1930s. The next owner was Rufus Turner who recently had sold it to a fellow named Benny Lafitte.  Lafitte was a fellow in his early twenties, burly muscled but with an easy going mischievous smile. He had just moved to the area from somewhere in the south, and was eager to make the store more popular.

His tactics had been working. Since he had taken over the store at the beginning of the year, he had held three concert ticket giveaways and had managed to have Thin Lizzy come into the store to do a live autograph session for their new album release “Thunder and Lightning”. Business was booming and Benny had been able to hire on two local high school kids as part time help.

That’s how Castiel Novak had come to work at ‘Drink the Sea’ Records the spring before he graduated from high school.

Usually Castiel was there on Wednesdays and Fridays after school, and then one of his good friends Anna Milton was there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They switched out on the weekends as needed, and Benny never seemed to be too concerned one way or the other. On this particular Saturday, they were both there in the late afternoon assisting Benny as they unpacked a huge delivery of new records that had arrived the day before. They were in the back storage area amid the stacks of milk crates that held the surplus stock. There were two doors to this room, one that led back out through the alley way, and the other that came out behind the front counter and the cash register. Both doors were open now, one to let air in the cramped room and the other so they could hear any customers entering the shop.

Anna was peeling open a crate in front of her and peering inside it when Castiel, his own arm buried to the elbow in a box, pulled out a stack of dark blue covered albums. He flipped them over and looked at the title, making a sour face. His eyes pinching down into tight slits.

Benny, clip board in hand with the inventory lists on it, glanced up and looked at Cas. “Wha’s wrong now ‘Malcolm McLaren*’? What did I order that offends your music sensibilities this time?” Benny let out a low rough chuckle as he looked over at Castiel’s wince.

Cas slumped and looked at Benny. “It was bad enough when you stocked ‘Thriller’….”

“I like ‘Thriller’!” Anna protested.

“An’ ‘Thriller’ sold like nuthin’ else b’for it….an’ still sellin’ pretty darn strong….”Benny reminded them.

Cas gave off a weary sigh, “It’s EVERY WHERE….I’m so sick of hearing it and it’s only been out a few months.” He refocused on the albums in his hands, “But this….THIS is worse! Bonnie Tyler?! This is awful Benny…..” He held ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ out for inspection.

“I liked Bonnie Tyler…”Anna said softly, carefully pulling a stack of Led Zeppelin records out of her box.

“An’ Bonnie Tyler sells Cas….” Benny smiled gently. Benny had a way of giving people this warm smile that countered the icy blues of his eyes and made the round crests of his cheeks rosy up.

Cas let out another exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”  He pulled the twelve albums out, counted them off to Benny as the older man marked them off the list.

“What else is inside there Cas?” Benny kept his eyes down on his paper work, but his smile was slowly creeping bigger across his mouth as he waited.

Castiel reached back into the box, into the packing materials and pulled two more albums out. He turned the first one over slowly, scrutinizing it and his eyes slowly grew wider and wider as he looked it over. He lowered the LP and stared hard and long at Benny. It made his denim blue eyes almost bird like and he frowned at his boss. “How….how did you….when….”

Anna let off a loud giggle and covered her mouth, almost snorting in her glee as an obvious conspirator.

Benny stifled his smile and raised his eyes to meet Castiel’s gaze, looking as innocent as they day he was born. “What?”

Cas looked back at the first album and then stopped and looked carefully over the second one. “Is this a bribe?!”

Anna laughed without holding back now, “Cas!”

Benny smirked, “If it’ll get ya to keep the commentary down when we bring in commercially strong sellers,” Benny nodded with a satisfied look, “Then yea. It’s a bribe.”

Castiel turned both records over in his hands lovingly. The first was the 12” single release of the Eurythmics’s ‘Love Is a Stranger’ and the other was the 12” single release of Kajagoogoo’s “Too Shy”. “Nick Rhodes and Colin Thurston are the producers for ‘Too Shy’ you know….” He said quietly almost reverently.

Benny’s grin returned, “I did actually….Thurston also worked on Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’ and Bowie’s ‘Heroes’….and that Human League album we sold a lot of too I think…” He was back to musing over his inventory lists. He glanced up to shoot Castiel a look, “I’m like you Cas, in your opinions of things. I’m with ya on the music. But I gotta stock what sells.”

Cas took in a deep breath, “Yes. I know. I just….”

“You just like what you like.” Anna said cheerfully and began to break down her empty shipping box. Then she stole a look at Castiel, “Besides, we thought you could use some cheering up.”

Castiel raised his brows slowly and looked back and forth from Benny to Anna, “Oh?”

“When’s the last time you heard from Dean?” She replied gently.

Castiel slumped again, his shoulders sagging and making the rumpled trench coat he wore as a fashion statement look three times too big for his frame. The hat he wore resting on the crown of his head that gave him a look as if he was wearing a dark halo, fell down a bit as well, shading his eyes from the over head lights. “It’s been over a week.”

Benny and Anna just sat silent a moment, and then Anna said, “I’m sure he’s okay….”

Castiel sat up, straightening his back and pushing his shoulders into that odd configuration that he usually held himself in. Anna and his other friends always said it looked like he was carrying invisible wings on his back, that he was their dear angel because of it. “Of course he is. I mean, it’s Dean.” Castiel looked to Anna and his eyebrows pulled up gently in the middle, “Right?”

“Right.” Anna nodded, trying to appear as confident for her friend as possible. She gave him her best smile, “And he’s probably out in the woods someplace and can’t get to a phone. He and Sam are probably fishing and having the time of their lives.”

“Yes, of course…” Castiel said and his gaze dropped back to the vinyl records in his hands, the crisp plastic seal still virginal around their sleeves. He fingered the corners absently, his eyes painfully a hundred miles away.

Anna reached for the last unopened box of records and Benny shook his head no to her, and set down his clip board, “Why don’ we quit doin’ inventory fer now. Would you lock up the back door Cas?” As Cas nodded yes, set his records down and turned his back to Anna and Benny, Benny nodded quickly out to the front part of the store and Anna nodded in understanding. She slipped swiftly out of the storage room and through the door to the front counter. Benny followed and both were gone when Castiel was done locking the back door.

Music started out in the main area of the store and it drifted back into the storage room where Castiel was. [It started with an easy beat, punctuated by a bit of cowbell and the sound of a synthesizer](http://youtu.be/MzStM5ZsMvU). A repeated melody came with it, and soon it was followed by an almost nasally female vocal singing.

“When all the lights are low I know a place to go….”

“Downtown….”

“Huh, I know a place to go….. downtown…..”

“When you were lonely life is making you frown…but you can always go…..downtown!”

Castiel came out from the storage room, unable to help himself as the rhythm caught under his skin. He nodded his head a little as the B-52’s sang out “Downtown”. In the main part of the store in front of the cash register, Anna was dancing and swinging her arms up and away. Her red hair was shaking as her head moved with her hips. Benny was walking towards the back, also nodding his head with the music.

The main part of the record store was broken into thirds, with the front two thirds being the bulk of the place. It had been a two story space but Rufus in the 70’s had removed part of the second floor and opened up everything for better acoustics. Now, just as you entered the store, the register and front counter were to your left. A small seating area was to the right with a little love seat and a huge arm chair, both upholstered in orange corduroy wale left over from Rufus’ earlier days. Then in front of you spread out the long record racks, six in all stretching back healthy twenty feet deep. Beyond the racks were three listening booths with record players, 8-track tape players and cassette players. A customer could take something in and shut the door to listen in the sound proofed room, or there were headphones to use so the doors could be left open. One booth was painted hot neon pink inside, the middle was a rich cobalt blue and the last was a bright sunny yellow. Next to them were stairs up into the loft Rufus had created out of the remaining part of the second floor. It was up here where the office was, and that was where Benny was heading now.

Anna kept dancing and Castiel realized she had put on one of the mix tapes he had made to play over the speaker system in the store. The Clash now belted out “[Rock the Casbah](http://youtu.be/bJ9r8LMU9bQ)” and Castiel leaned against the outer edge of the front counter. He buried his hands deep into the pockets of his coat and he drew in a long breath. He didn’t want to spoil things by letting Anna know that the Clash was one of the bands Dean had listened to when they would drive around in Dean’s Impala. Back when Dean had lived in town, gone to their school and dated Cas.

The entry bell to the front doors jingled and Castiel looked up.

Three high school girls tumbled into the store, bright smiles on their faces and ripped ragged bits of lace tied into their hair. They wore bright colored bobby socks with their penny loafers, tights that came to their calves with skirts over that then topped with selectively torn or cut inside out fleece sweat shirts. Except for the shirts and the lace in their hair, they were dressed very much like Anna. And when they came in, Anna turned with a matching smile and quickly came to hug them. One of the girls was Anna’s twin, Trisha. The other two were blondes and they were all friends Castiel had grown up with, sisters to him in every way but blood.

The Cure’s ‘[Grinding Halt’](http://youtu.be/faAOrf07lHY) came jerking and bouncing over the speakers now, Simon Gallup’s bass reverberating through the speakers punctuated by Robert Smith’s signature vocal.

One of the blonde girls walked over to Castiel, slipped beside him and leaned against the counter in perfect mimicry. “Cassie….” She nodded and looked at him sideways, her pale blue eyes a little concerned at what she saw on his face. “What goin’ on?”

He answered by shrugging and looking over to notice the Middleton sisters and their other friend, Christina, in a deep huddle whispering conspiratorially. He frowned and squinted his eyes into narrow wary slits, “Katy…what’s going on…over there?”

“Oh that, don’t worry luv.” She leaned in closer to whisper, “You do know Christina is totally into your boss, Benny….right?”

Castiel turned to look at Katy with an incredulous look, one of his brows snaking up his forehead but his squint not losing its bite, “Benny?”

“Sure. He’s like, totally cool and cute. And only like, three years older than us.” Katy shrugged, unflinching and well accustomed to Castiel’s intense stares. “And dude, we’re all totally eighteen now so… chill out.”

“I just don’t want to see her get hurt….” Cas commented.

All eyes turned to Benny now as he came down the stairs from the office. Castiel squinted a little harder at his boss, noting that Benny’s cheeks were slightly pinker than usual.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about Cas.” Katy smiled, “He’s already sent her flowers….”

Castiel’s eyes went round and wide as he followed his boss cross down the line of record racks to come directly up to Christina to greet her with a deep throaty “Hello Darlin’”. His eyes bright blue beacons shining in tandem with Christina’s glowing smile. As he approached Anna and Trish rounded away giggling to come stand near Katy and Cas.

“So do you think she’s gonna bring him with us to see Rocky Horror Picture Show tonight?” Anna crossed her fingers.

Katy looked sidelong at Castiel again, “You’re coming with us tonight, right?”

Castiel shook his head, “No. I’m not….in the mood.”

“But Cas….Rocky always cheers you up.” Anna pleaded, “And we miss you being there with us.”

“ I know…. I just….” Castiel’s brows pulled up and in again, his eyes sad. “What if Dean calls while I’m out?”

The three girls all nodded in understanding, and gave him gentle loving looks. Katy nudged his arm with her elbow playfully and said, “It’s cool Cas. You’re an embarrassment to us when you try to do the Time Warp anyway…”

That earned a small smirk from Cas, and he nudged her back.

Suddenly Christina was plowing into them, her arms wide gathering them into a mass hug. She was giving off a smile whose radiance could power the entire city and her cheeks were nearly the shade of rose petals. “Oh. My. Gawd.” She squealed. “He’s coming with us tonight!!” She was nearly jumping up and down, “And we are meeting you guys there becaaaauuuse…..” She flashed her big brown eyes and giggled, “He’s picking me up on his motorcycle!”

The girls dissolved into a wave of smiles and giggles, and Castiel found himself caught up as usual in their exuberance and enthusiasm. It pulled a smile from his lips and deep down he felt his heart warm up.

“You should go and get ready for tonight….Anna you too if Benny says it’s okay. I’ll stay until close.” Castiel let the smile on his face relax into something sweeter and easier as he looked at them. Anna darted off to speak to Benny and soon the girls were gone in a flurry of giggles and excited chatter. The record store seemed empty and quiet after they left, even with the music playing over the speakers still.

Not long after, several customers came in. One woman was looking for several Beatles records. Two guys from Castiel’s school came in looking for Yes’s ‘Fragile’ and ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’. A couple came in and bought every George Clinton album they had in stock, even one double copy that was back in the storage room. It kept Castiel busy, helping the time to go quickly and helped keep his mind off missing Dean.

Soon they were closing up the store and making idle talk as Benny rang out the register and Castiel made the rounds, turning off all the electronic equipment like the stereos inside the sound booths.

“You sure ya don’ wanna come tonight Cas?” Benny cocked a brow up as he finished writing up the deposit slip for the bank drop. “You gonna leave me all alone with those little ‘angels’ all night?” He chuckled and it was a rich bubbling mix that reminded Castiel of a big cat’s purr, but it didn’t hide the sarcastic edge he put on the word ‘angels’. Cas could completely see why Christina was smitten with the guy.

“Nah I’m….gonna get some sleep. Someone has to be awake tomorrow to open this place back up.” Castiel made a grand wave at the open spaces of the record store.

Benny laughed, “I’m gonna be too busy picking rice outta my hair tomorrow aren’t I?”

“If you even make it back here alive.” Castiel dead panned, “Have you made out a will yet Benny?”

Benny let out a hearty laugh and met Castiel at the front doors, palming his keys out of his pocket. “Well, I can’t leave the store to you. You’ll be off an’ gone to New York in the fall.”

Castiel stopped and took a long serious look around the record store. There was a huge Jimi Hendricks black light poster behind the cash register and a framed gold record of Marvin Gaye’s beside it. Overhead a cluster of old broken disco balls hung at different intervals and lengths. Nearby little plastic pigs from Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’ album hung floating from thin fishing line and behind them paper cut out black and white faces of each member of the band Kiss. The wall opposite from the register and next to the main window was covered in a crazed patchwork of posters and albums covers dating back decades to when swing music played through the place. The store was a mish-mash of music history and it made Castiel give off a comfortable sigh.

“Yes. But I’m really going to miss this place.” Castiel smiled genuinely at Benny.

“You’ll be back to see your Mom during the holidays, so…..”Benny gave an easy shrug and flicked off the regular lights to the store, then flipped the sign on the door to read ‘closed’. He opened the front door and held it for Castiel.

Cas nodded as he went through the doors and out onto the sidewalk. He paused, waiting for Benny to lock up, then they parted company as they said good night. Castiel turned in the opposite direction and began his walk to the bus stop. The sun had just dipped down below the horizon and the stars were winking awake overhead. He dug into his pocket, pulled out his walkman and its small headphones. He tucked them around the back of his head below the brim of his hat and seated the ear pieces in place. Then he hit the play button and started the three block walk to the bus stop.

The music coming over the headphones was an easy cadence and its sound made Castiel’s shoulders relax but it caused his heart to squeeze tight. The Thompson Twins “[Hold Me Now](http://youtu.be/YepfoPEbT5Q)” was playing and Tom Bailey’s smooth vocals came through, singing the lyrics. Castiel shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat.

”I have a picture……. pinned to my wall  
An image of you and of me  
And we're laughin' with love at it all.  
Look at our life now  
Tattered and torn…..  
We fuss and we fight and delight in the tears  
That we cry until dawn……”

Castiel heaved out a long sigh, his feet falling time with the music as he walked. His mind wandered to the last time he had seen Dean. It was just after Valentine’s Day and the weather had been wet and chilly. John had come back into town to collect Dean and Sam, intent on taking them with him across the country to New Mexico for a hunt. Dean had complained, tried to convince John to leave them here just a little longer, at least until the end of the school year but John had put his foot down and said no. Dean had shown up on Castiel’s door step, angry and upset, cursing and fuming. It had taken hours to get Dean to calm down.

In the end Dean had obeyed his Father, and they had left. Those last few weeks of February after Dean was gone had been torment. Cas and Dean had been inseparable for four straight months.

They had only been apart a day when Dean had started calling Cas any time he came across a pay phone. Castiel was thankful his mother had been understanding and patient, as sometimes Dean would ring in the dead of night long after the moon had swept itself off to sleep.

“You say I'm a dreamer.  
We're two of a kind.  
Both of us searching for some perfect world we know we'll never find.  
So perhaps I should leave here….  
Yeah-yeah  
Go far away….  
But you know that there's nowhere that I'd rather be than with you here today….”

It was in March that Castiel had learned he had recieved a grant to attend Julliard in the fall for drama studies. It was his dream come true. And at first he had brazenly been relieved that he wouldn’t be here in this town anymore with so many things reminding him of Dean. New York would swallow him up, and squeeze Dean out of his system. He would bask in the theater arts and get away from this Dean shaped hole in his heart.

“Ohhhhh…..Hold me now. Ohhhhh….Warm my heart  
Stay with me  
Let lovin' start  
Let lovin' start…..”

When Castiel had told Dean about Julliard, Dean had been ecstatic. Proud and happy for Cas to be able to reach for his life’s dreams and goals. And Cas had said nothing, acting as if this didn’t affect what he had with Dean, even though the growing distance and time apart was beginning to chip away at Cas in ways he couldn’t explain. Hollowing out part of his heart and making his ache for Dean slip into a dark unhappy place.  
  
“You asked if I love you.  
What can I say?  
You know that I do and that this is just one of those games that we play.  
So I'll sing you a new song…..  
Please….  
Don't cry anymore.  
I'll even ask your forgiveness though I don't know just what I'm asking it for…..”

But then Dean had started talking about how he was slowly convincing John to let him hunt alone, and how he would find cases close to New York. About how he was getting in contact with other hunters in the city to see about working with them, and how he would bring Sam along. He had started asking Castiel about where he would live in New York, and talking as if he and Sam would move in with him. It had given Castiel hope and now Cas clung to that spark with his every breath. If only Dean would call him again soon.

“Ohhhhh…..Hold me now. Ohhhhh….Warm my heart  
Stay with me  
Let lovin' start  
Let lovin' start…..”

The song came to an end and Cas stopped at the bus stop. He stood stiff beside the sign and reached into his pocket to fiddle with his walkman. He skipped over the next song and was about to hit play on Patti Smith's 'Pissing in a River' when he could hear a muffled sound coming closer. It was a deep throaty engine growl that had Castiel tearing his headphones away from his ears and looking anxiously down the road.

A sleek beast of a black car cruised into view, its hood and chrome gleaming with reflections from the street lights as its headlamps glossed over the surface of the street.

Everything around Castiel seemed to come to a halt. His breath and his heartbeat stalled in his chest as his eyes went down to those hard slits of dark disbelief. He cocked his head as the rest of his body went numb with a pounding mix of both dread and hope. This wouldn’t be the only time he had heard an Impala’s engine, sending him running in its direction only to find that it wasn’t Dean. The first one had been a bright red one, identical in every way to Dean’s except the color and the lack of Dean himself. Merely fate being cruel and taunting him with what he wanted most. Cas closed his eyes and nearly crushed his headphones in the tense grip of his hand.

The car came closer, and then stopped in front of him, its rumbling vibrations coming in waves into Castiel’s body, up his legs, knocking at the gate of his heart.

“You gonna stand there all night Cas, or you gonna get in and give your boyfriend a smoochie woochie kiss?” Sam’s mocking yet excited fourteen year old voice hit Castiel’s ears like the first drops of rain in a desert.

Cas’s eyes flew open.

Sam was leaning on his elbows out of the passenger side window of the Impala and smiling big at Cas. His eyes were crinkled in mirth as he wiggled his brows up and down. Then he gave out a small huff and said, “On second thought, wait and drool on my brother when I’m not around.”

Castiel bent down and looked through the window across the seat. Dean sat there, looking glorious and gorgeous as his eyes swam dark and wet, and his smile pulled on every anchor Castiel’s heart had. “Hello Dean.” Cas said.

“Hey Cas.” Dean grinned out and didn’t bother hiding the emotion welling up in his throat, “You ah, got a couple of couches me an’ Sam can crash on for a while?”

“How long is a while?” Castiel schooled his expression and kept his voice his usual flat tone.

“Uh…”Dean chuckled, “Until you go to new York in the fall at least…?”

Castiel straightened up and let out a long loud tedious sounding sigh. “I don’t know Dean. What if my boyfriend calls at 4am and wants to have phone sex with me?”

Sam made a disgusted face and slid back into the car, covering his ears.

“Then I’ll hang up on his rotten ass!….wait…boyfriend….you….” Dean began to choke on his words, his eyes growing hot.

“Dean.” Cas bent down to look into the car again, “Dean, that was you calling me at 4am for phone sex, remember?”

“Get in my car Novak!” Dean barked in reply.

A half smile sprouted on Castiel’s mouth and he did as he was told. Once in the back he sat up close against the top of the front seat, his face and his breath close enough to ghost warmly across the side of Dean’s neck. “Nice to see you.”

Dean turned, drank in Castiel’s heavy lidded gaze and a smiled broke across his face filled with relief and joy and something so much more vast. “Nice to see you too Cas.”

 

 


	2. Is There Anyone Out There?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the owner, Benny Lafitte is off working in his office, Castiel is accosted in the storage room by an unknown man. Will Cas survive what happens?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted as a series, I decided to consolidate everything into chapters instead. It makes it easier to download and to read on Kindle and other tablets.

Sunday, 12:45pm.

Thus far the morning had been slow. Only one person had come into the store and that was to ask if they could have change for a five dollar bill, in quarters, and Castiel had to turn them away because there weren’t enough in the cash drawer. So Castiel had decided to busy himself by cleaning the disco balls, getting the dust and grime that had settled on their mirrored surfaces cleared away. He had hauled the tall ladder out from beneath the stairs where Benny kept it, shucked off his trench coat and removed his hat. He had found a couple of cleaning rags in the storage room and dilled a spray bottle with the glass cleaner that Benny used for the front window. He was half way done with the second disco ball when Benny finally made it through the front doors.

Benny was bundled up in a navy coat and wearing a hat against the chill spring morning air. He paused to take a long look at Castiel on the top of the ladder, rag in one hand, disco ball steadied in the other, the handle to the cleaning bottle hooked into Cas’s back pants pocket. “Slow day then?” Benny queried.

Lips,Inc’s “[Funky Town](http://youtu.be/ax68rWI4Tuk)” was bumping through the store speaker system and Cas’s hip was rocking a bit in time with the beat. The ladder swayed ever so slightly but it didn’t seem to cause Cas any distress. Still keeping his eyes on what he was doing, Castiel chuckled, “Yes. So far.” Then with the hint of a smirk tugging at his mouth Cas said, “You are still breathing I see.”

Benny purred out a slow chuckle, “Yea well, your friends are live wires. I almost couldn’t keep up.”

Castiel held very still and looked down at Benny, his gaze intent and serious. “How did things go with Christina?”

“Boy, a gentleman never kisses and tells.” Benny clucked and started walk back to the stairs to go up into his office.

“So there was kissing?” Cas raised an eyebrow.

Benny just shook his head in reply and vanished up the stairs into the office area.

Castiel finished polishing the disco ball he was working on, and then made his way down the ladder. Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me with Science” came on over the store sound systems and Cas began a sort of step walk dance from the ladder, falling into the song’s rhythm. He made his way back behind the counter and into the storage room to refill the spray bottle he had the cleaning fluid in. As he refilled the bottle, he dropped and raised his left hip in time with the beat.

Castiel felt more than saw someone in the doorway to the storage area, and then heard footsteps enter the storage room where he was. He was about to turn around, thinking it was Benny, when he felt a firm hand come up and grip the back of his neck. The grapple there tightened and Castiel felt someone press up against his back, hot breath at his ear. Cas smelled cigarettes and some other sour scent he couldn’t place. He felt another press to his lower side, a sharp point of something breaking through the fabric of his t-shirt.

“Make a sound….and I’ll slice your guts out onto the floor.”The hand jerked pinching across the back of Castiel’s neck, and a strained voice said “Play nice you little faggot, and you’ll live…”

Castiel felt the muscles all over his body constrict in fear. His hand curled around the gallon jug of cleaning fluid. Just as he raised it to slosh it over his shoulder at the intruder, he felt a solid punch land into his back against one kidney and it made him crumble in a flash of white pain. He found he could barely breathe much less call out for Benny.

The man shook Castiel by the neck, knocking the bottle from his hand. The bottle fell, hit the floor and the cleaning fluid dumped out. The man then shoved Castiel down onto the floor in between the milk crate stacks. He felt a knee come down on the back of his thighs and the man’s other hand was moving across his back, something sharp and metallic dragging with it.

“I told you….”The man grunted, “….to play….nice…”

There was a rip of clothing, and Castiel felt the back of his shirt being torn open. Cas squirmed, still seeing spots from the pain of the punch, trying to get his hands under his body. The floor was splashed with the cleaning fluid and it was too slick. His hands slid and skittered unable to gain leverage and the strong chemical smell burned in his nose. Then he heard another rip of fabric and felt the dull side of a large knife as the man cut open the back of his pants.

“….no….no no no no…..no no no….”the words started to tumble out of Castiel’s mouth and he started to buck harder, fighting under the man’s heavy weight.

“I said play nice!” The man shoved down brutally on the back of Castiel’s neck, putting impossible pressure there and forcing Castiel’s throat into a choking angle. Cas coughed out a sharp cry of pain and fought to breathe.

He could feel the man yanking hard on the back of his trousers, jerking them below the roundness of his ass and down his thighs. In the other room, Duran Duran’s “Anyone Out There” came on over the speakers and Castiel squeezed the tears forming in his eyes out onto the floor.

The man’s breath sounded ragged now, and Castiel felt the man’s knee shove in between his now bare thighs. The hand that had held the knife was now kneading roughly over his ass cheeks.

“[Is there anyone out there…?](http://youtu.be/R30HdTSm9aI)” Out in the main room of the store, Simon LeBon’s voice called out with the music over the speakers, echoing the pleas for help clogged deep in Castiel’s chest. He could feel his consciousness wavering as it became harder to breathe and he silently prayed he’d pass out now and not feel what he knew was coming. Cas felt two of the man’s fingers probe into the cleft of his ass and then….

And then suddenly the man wasn’t there.

The pressure on Castiel’s back was gone, the invasive hand was gone. Cast’s throat was released and he sucked in a harsh gulp of air. Trembling, Castiel quickly rolled over and looked up.

The man was above him, pinned to the ceiling as if he was frozen there. His eyes were wide and bulging and his tongue was heaving out of his mouth as if it were trying to escape his head. He was a tall well built white male in his mid thirties with dark wavy hair and wearing a well tailored suit. And it looked to Castiel as if something was trying to force his insides outwards through some strange interior pressure that was building up from within. Blood was dripping in thick streams from the man’s ears, nose and the corners of his eyes. A long trail mix of spit and blood was oozing around the man’s wide stretched lips and it dropped between Castiel's feet.

When the first of the man’s eyeballs was popped from his skull with a wet ‘squick’ sound it startled Castiel out of his stunned reverie. His basic flight sense kicked back in, and Cas began to slip and squirm back away, scrabbling at the milk crates to get a hold and pull himself standing. The second eyeball shot from the man’s head a half second after Castiel got his feet underneath him.

“CAS?!” Dean’s voice rang out somewhere to Castiel’s right and as Castiel turned to look in that direction, he was suddenly bathed in a hot red shower of ocher and gore.

========================================

The next thing Castiel remembered was blinking the bleariness from his eyes and seeing Anna’s face coming into focus. He was seated on the orange corduroy loveseat in the record store with his trench coat draped around his shoulders. His own hands gripped the lapels of the coat, holding it closed and close but he couldn’t quite feel the sensation of his own fingers yet. His clothes and his hands were covered in blood. He lifted his head and looked back at Anna. She was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear her voice, only the muffled murmur of it. Dazed, he looked to his left and found Trish there, her arms around him protectively. Katy was to his right, squeezed on the loveseat as well, her hands fidgeting with the hem of his coat. Christina was pacing, her face grim and sad as she would look at Cas, then away keeping a second eye on the police questioning Benny nearby.

Anna’s hand covered his, and pulled it free gently. A cup of water was gently but firmly placed into his grasp and he heard Anna finally telling him to drink. He nodded absently and did as he was asked. His hearing began to clear.

The record store was a hive of restrained authoritarian activity. Police and other official looking people were everywhere, but mainly buzzing and clustered at the door back into the storage area.

“The storage area….” Castiel wasn’t sure if he said it aloud or only thought it. “Something happened in the….” He stopped. The cup of water slipped from his hand.

“Dean….” Castiel stood up. “Dean. Dean?.....Dean!?......DEAN!” His voice kept coming louder and louder out of him as his eyes searched wildly around the record store.

“I’m here…I’m here….Cas….”and Dean was there, at his elbow and then Dean’s arms were around him, and then his hand was there, gentle on Castiel’s cheek.

All Castiel could see then was the green of Dean’s eyes. Calming comforting beautiful green. The green of summer grass and old glass bottles. The green of joy, and love and everything that made Cas feel good. The green of Dean.

The alarm in Castiel vanished. His body just let go of its strain and relaxed into Dean’s grip. “What happened?”

“We were hoping you could tell us…” Dean said gently as he thumbed away something sticky off Castiel’s cheek. “But looks to me like you are still in shock.”

“I do not remember….” Castiel looked down at his gore soaked clothing and a mix of disgust and shock washed over his face. He shifted and felt his trousers go slack, nearly falling off his hips. He absently grabbed the waistband to hike them up and he suddenly froze.

“Hands, hands and a knife….and he choked me…and cut at my clothes…and forced me to the floor…and was going to….he was going to….”Cas began to hitch and struggle to breathe. His eyes went wide and distressed, frantic. Their usual smooth blue was now railing pale and his face drained of color. “And then he was gone….”

Dean grabbed a tighter hold on Cas and with a solid yank brought Cas into a firm protective hug, “I know. I saw his body on the ceiling. I saw him held up there….saw him explode…..” Dean had seen it. And everything about it sent warning flags up high and hot in his gut. He squeezed Cas tighter to him.

“What did you tell the police?” Cas said softly against Dean’s shoulder.

“Nothing….nothing. I asked to go down to the station tomorrow to talk about. I said I needed to take care of you…” Dean croaked out against Castiel’s ear. “Do you need to see a Doc? He choked you…? There is an ambulance outside…..” Dean pulled back a little and looked in Castiel’s eyes, “You wouldn’t let the paramedics touch you earlier.”

“Only you.” Cas said quickly, “Only family touches me.”

“Yea, of course, sure…sure…”Dean replied softly, “But now, will you let them look at you? Did he hit you?”

“Kidney punch.” Cas simply said and he saw that comforting green in Dean’s eyes swirl darkly for a moment before Dean shoved his anger down deep. Cas nodded then, “Okay. Paramedics…..okay.”

Out of the corner of his eye Castiel saw his friends stand up and move closer. He turned to the girls and met their eyes, each one at a time. He masked the unease inside him, and just let his gaze look weary. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” But when he said it, a part of him felt like he was lying to them and that made a stone of something wrong and cold grow in his stomach. Something within him told him that nothing was going to be okay for a while.

He looked back at Dean, into that green. He had seen the flicker of anger at the attacker simmer under the surface there. He saw the catch along Dean’s brow as something indefinable passed over his face when he confirmed seeing what Cas had seen….the man held against the ceiling of the storage room, exploding from unseen force.

No, nothing was going to be okay for a very long time.

He let Dean guide him out of the store and towards the waiting paramedics outside and tried not to think about hands at his neck, or the scent of cleaning fluid, or back to that awful afternoon last December when his friends had freed him from the grip of something just as horrible, just as unbelievable as a man being burst to pulp on the ceiling of a record store storage room.

He looked over at Dean, and knew without a doubt that Dean was thinking the same thing.

~*~


	3. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean has been teaching Castiel how to defend himself. Dean and Cas go toe to toe in a friendly little tussle.
> 
>  
> 
> A follow up series to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713  
>  High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and Dean is becoming a hunter.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
>  http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

Tuesday, 4:35pm

“C’mon Cas…..hit me…..” Dean was smirking, that little half cocked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, his eyes glittering playfully. He was in his tight ripped up jeans and his Doc Martens with his usual torn tank top on. Today it was one that read “Another One Bites The Dust” and had an image of Freddy Mercury posed long and lean with a microphone stand pressed brazenly against his hip. Dean’s honey colored hair was spiked up and he had eyeliner smudged against the rims of his eyes. Currently he had his hands up close to his face, fingers curled loose, right hand just brushing against his jaw line. Left hand was thumbing across his nose Bruce Lee style just once. “Focus, do it just like I showed you.”

Castiel was in a pose mirroring Dean’s, though he held his hands lower, level with his shoulders. His body was poised in a half turn and he held himself springy through his hips and knees. He was in baggy trousers; his boots and his New Order ‘Blue Monday’ t-shirt. He had rolled the short sleeves up against his shoulders and it made his arms look sinewy and dangerous. Since Sunday Dean had been on a mission to teach Cas how to defend himself and fight, and Cas had proved more than just an apt student. Castiel was a natural, lean and quick with an incredible instinct and grace.

They were sparing out in the alleyway behind the record store, the back door open to the storage room so they could hear the music Anna was playing as she bustled about within. Feeling clever, she was currently cranking Pat Benatar’s ‘[Hit Me With Your Best Shot](http://youtu.be/x5kisPBwZOM)’ as loud as the sound system in the record store could go, which meant Dean and Cas could hear it well out where they were.

“Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history  
Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me  
That's O.K., let’s see how you do it  
Put up your dukes, let’s get down to it!  
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Fire Away!”

Castiel bounced a few steps, sizing Dean up and watching the movement in Dean’s shoulder’s and hips. Cas twitched his left shoulder forward, feigning a punch and then shot out fast with his right. Dean blocked, but that was the real dupe. Cas came in instantly with a left under swing that caught Dean in the ribs and made Dean huff as the air was knocked out of his lungs with a loud ‘Uuuuph’. Dean stumbled back a few steps, bent over with his eyes wide.

“You come on with a come on, you don't fight fair  
But that's O.K., see if I care!  
Knock me down, it's all in vain  
I'll get right back on my feet again!”

Instantly Cas dropped his arms and came to Dean, concern in his eyes. And that was when Dean did a quarter pivot, swept his foot under Cas’s leg and sent Cas off his feet. Dean caught him half way down, holding Cas as if they had been dancing.

Dean grinned wickedly and let out a teasing chuckle. “Gotcha!”

“Not fair!” Castiel glared at Dean’s beaming face as it hovered close over his own.

“What? You think the people attacking you are gonna fight fair?” Dean dropped his grin, “Did that guy who jumped you fight fair? Hell no. You have to be prepared for anything Cas.”

“Anything.” Cas repeated and his blue eyes went darker as he narrowed his gaze at Dean.

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Fire Away!”

Castiel’s hands flew up, gripping Dean’s head and he pulled up catching Dean’s mouth with his own. Dean coughed out a surprised sound but just when he was about to return the kiss, Cas bit him. Hard. Shocked, Dean released his hold. Still grappling Dean’s head, Cas used Dean’s forward tipped weight to pull Dean off balance, twisting and rolling so Dean landed hard on the ground with Cas on top. It wasn’t graceful and Cas hit his knee hard against the ground, but it did place him at a better vantage and he swung back to deliver a punch. His fist came down and landed right across Dean’s jaw.

“You little shit!” Dean yelled out.

From there everything dissolved into a rough scuffle of arms flying and legs tangling as they rolled around on the ground gritting their teeth and swinging at each other. Cas landed two more punches and Dean got one in of his own. More were blocked but at one point Dean bit Castiel’s ear hard enough to make Cas shout in pain.

“Payback for the love bite.” Dean growled.

Soon though, they weren’t fighting anymore, but wrestled into a knot with laughter bursting from their bellies.

And then they weren’t laughing anymore but instead smothering each other’s faces with hot seeking mouths and making far more erotic sounds as their bodies strained against each other in an entirely different way. Fists bunched into the fabric of their shirts were halted as they gasped to a stop trying to catch their breath.

“Dean…”Cas panted and lifted his head a little to look into Dean’s eyes. One of Cas’s hands was rumpling up Dean’s shirt while the other arm was cradling the back of Dean’s head.

“Yea yea yea…” Dean’s flush bottom lip trembled as he smiled. Both his hands were under Castiel’s shirt, one moving up along the bare skin of Cas’s back. The other had dived halfway into the front of Castiel’s pants. “….alleyway….yea….probably not the best place to do this….”

“Unless you don’t mind someone seeing us…..”Cas whispered hot against Dean’s ear and rolled his hips once with a very lewd and deliberate motion.

A tremor went through Dean and it shook both of them up and down, “Talk about not fighting fair….” He whimpered out.

Cas gave off a rough huff and pulled away, rocking up to stand. He extended his hand to help Dean up off the ground. Dean curled to sit up a little, and looked warily at Cas, hesitant to take his hand but smiling a little deviously anyway. He clasped his hand into Castiel’s and felt Cas pull. Dean jerked his arm, yanked hard and pulled Cas off balance. Castiel’s eyes went wide and he tipped forward. Dean scooped him into his arms and pulled him neatly into his lap.

Dean’s hands surged up around Castiel’s face, cupping his head firmly but tenderly. They both held there for a moment, Castiel’s wide deep blue eyes locked into Dean’s smiling green ones. Dean hovered closer, carefully dancing his lips in a bare graze across Cas’s as both their eyes fell closed. Dean breathed in, washing his senses in Cas’s scent and the warm hint of breath from Castiel’s mouth.

“Cas… you are just so…..” Dean rasped out, his words quivering. He didn’t finish. Instead he pressed their mouths together with a half moan and drank in the taste of Cas completely. And Cas rose up into it, his mouth meeting Dean’s and echoing it. They melted into the kiss, into each other and didn’t break away until they needed, gently gasping for breath.

“I’m never gonna leave you like that again Cas. Not like these last few months. Not like that. I’ll hunt but….” Dean’s voice cracked wetly.

“We’re in orbit around each other….” Cas said low and smooth.

“Yea. Exactly.” Dean replied, his voice barely there.

There was a slight scuff of a foot nearby and someone lightly cleared their throat. Anna was standing there, grinning huge at them and half hanging out of the back of the storage room. “Uh, hate to break up your fight training….” She mockingly rolled her eyes but her smile somehow just went even wider, “But uh, Benny said we are closing early tonight so I need to lock up. And your stuff is still in here so…” She leaned back into the room and vanished.

Dean and Cas got up, both of them now blushing furiously and chuckling a little. Cas ducked into the storage room first and Dean followed right behind. He closed the door out to the alleyway behind him and bolted it locked. He paused to look over the storage room a moment.

Benny had professional cleaners come in and remove what the police forensic team had not. Not a trace was left of the gore or the blood. Benny had even insisted that whatever cleaning products the crew went to use that it not be the brand that Cas’s nose had been shoved into during the attack. That Benny had thought of Cas in that way, protecting him from being triggered into a bad memory, made Dean like Benny more and more. Benny had also tried to get Cas to take the week off of work, but Cas had fought both with Benny and with Dean, saying that keeping his usual routine would be more help than harm.

And so far it was working. Cas didn’t linger long when he went into the storage room, but he didn’t flinch or hesitate either. And at night if Cas came and brought Dean from his cot in the basement up secretly into his bedroom so they could curl up against each other in the dark, Dean wasn’t going to protest. And neither had Castiel’s mother and she had to know.

Dean took a deep breath and came out into the main part of the store. Anna was getting her purse out from where she kept it behind the counter. Castiel was walking along the record racks towards the back of the store.

“I’m going to say good night to Benny,” Cas called, “Be right back.”

Anna nodded and Dean waved in reply but they both stayed where they were.

Castiel bound up the stairs to the second floor and swept around the corner, about to step into Benny’s office when he heard voices. He paused and listened a moment.

“I know Darlin’. I know. I just….” Benny sighed out, low and it almost sounded broken.

“Just what ‘Bear’?” Cas recognized the nickname as he heard Christina’s voice come out through the open office door. “ You feel responsible?”

“Yea. I do. I feel responsible.” Cas heard Benny’s office chair shift, “I was here…I was right HERE. I shoulda heard sumthin’, I shoulda….”

“What?” Christina’s voice was so tender, so sweet and it made Cas smile fondly at the big heart he knew his friend had.

“I shoulda saved him.” Benny voice started off pained but then it grew rough and angry. “I shoulda been down there and I shoulda stopped that man from getting his hands on Cas.”

Castiel blinked and frowned. There was no way he would ever have held Benny responsible for what had happened and he couldn’t fathom why Benny would either. Cas heard something move in the office now. Benny’s chair creeked and he let out a deep sigh that sounded as if it was muffled slightly.

Christina’s voice came muffled a bit now as well, “Oh my big wonderful Bear….you can’t let this eat you up inside. There was no way you could have known…..You heard what the cops said, the guy was probably stalking Cas all day looking for an opening. He was an awful horrible man and you didn’t know…you couldn’t know….” Several faint soft wet smooch sounds came from the office.

When they stopped Benny said, “You’re right Darlin’. I know. I’mma feel torn up about this for a while tho…..”

“I know. And Cas knows.” Christina said, her tone loving, “We’ll get through this….together. Just like we always do.”

“Yea…yea we will.” Benny replied.

More sweet kissing sounds and Castiel decided he didn’t really need to bother them. He turned and crept away, turning around the corner. He took a deep breath when he was midway down the stairs, his eyes looking over at Dean and Anna, talking and joking with each other. Cas thought of Christina and Benny, together now and Cas closed his eyes a moment and stopped still.

“Yes. We’ve seen our share of bad things…..that demon, Michelle’s death, now this….” Castiel thought to himself, “But we pulled through before. We can take this on, whatever it is. Whatever ripped that man apart….whatever the future has coming at us. We’ll make it. Benny, Christina, Katy, Anna, Trisha, Sam….Dean…..We’ve got this handled.” And Cas felt a surge of over whelming love for his friends, his family, come up through his body like a geyser. It echoed up into his smile and when he opened his eyes, it shone out brightly.

“Well what are you smiling about?” Dean teased as Castiel approached.

“Nothing.” Cas smiled. “Let’s get home. I’m famished.”

~*~


	4. Gone Daddy Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1983
> 
> Castiel Novak works at Drink the Sea Records and one evening he, Dean and Sam stop by the store to invite their friends out to the movies. But then a woman flees into the store from a man following her and their evening takes a turn to the Supernatural.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
>  http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

Thursday, 8:15pm

The Violent Femmes’ “[Gone Daddy Gone](http://youtu.be/ekL7o8BQkZM)” smacked funky out of the main speaker system in the record store. Anna was doing a duck walk down between the record racks, occasionally peeking up and looking over the racks carefully. Her gray eyes were wide and her mouth was pressed firm, trying to keep her laughter from bursting out. On the other side of the record rack, Katy was ducked, huddled, hiding. Her hand was held over her mouth tight keeping silent has her shoulders shook with giggles. In between the last row of racks, Trisha sat with her back against the wood construct, casually nibbling on a candy bar. Her face was unconcerned and placid.

Christina began to come downstairs from the office area and stopped, looking down at her three girlfriends all hiding between the racks. She was about to open her mouth and ask what the heck they were doing when an idea flickered across her face. She turned quietly and crept back into the office.

Anna peeked over the top of the racks again, then dipped down and scuttled to the end of the rack near the register. She was slowly creeping around the end of the rack row as Katy ran and hid at the other end, hidden from view. Anna let out a soft huff of frustration and started sneaking towards the end of the other record rack. She was just about to peer around to where Trish was seated when Katy let off a loud squeal of surprise. Anna’s head darted up to see Christina midway down the stairs, her arms full of nerf balls and a wide wicked grin on her face. Christina shot another ball at Katy where she was hiding. Katy stood, a nerf ball in her hand, and a second later launched it in Christina. It went wide and bounced off the stair rail, as Christina threw a third ball, hitting Katy on the top of her head. It bounced off in a beautiful arc and landed at Trish’s feet. Anna ran then, up the long record rack row and grabbed Katy from behind causing the girl to squeal loud with surprise.

“Nice to see the fine upstanding youth of America using their time so productively.” Came an amused voice from the front of the store.

The girls all turned to see Dean, Sam and Cas standing there. Dean was wearing his leather motorcycle jacket looking like Billy Idol’s twin brother, and Cas was in his usual trench coat and hat with his messy dark hair twisted with tiny threads of red, gold and green. But Sam had grown nearly six inches since the girls had seen him last four months ago, and was getting tall and lanky.

“Oh. My. God. Is that Sam Winchester?!” Anna laughed.  
“No, can’t be….Sam like…short and hobbit like and stuff.” Katy smiled.  
“Who is this stud running around with you and Dean now Cas?” Trish winked at Sam and his cheeks flushed.  
“Careful ladies, he’s still jailbait.” Christina smiled and lobbed a nerf ball long and far. It came at Sam and he reached out to catch it easily.

“Yea but we can still get a hug right Sam?” Anna opened her arms and walked to him, embracing Sam in a big hug before releasing him and mussing his hair with her hand. “What are you guys up to?”

“We came to see if you wanted to go to the movies with us after the store closed.” Cas explained.

“Risky Business….”Dean chuckled, “I wanted to see Porky’s Two but I was out voted….”He nudged a thumb at Castiel and Sam.

“Uh, store doesn’t close until ten….and the eleven o’clock show? Dude, we have school tomorrow.” Christina bounced a bright pink nerf ball off Dean’s shoulder.

“School-schmool.”Dean made a face, pointing a warning finger at Christina, “Midterms were over and done as of to-day….and so what if we miss first period tomorrow? C’mon, I’ll even drive you all to school in the Impala.” Dean grinned.

“Huddle.” Katy called out and drew all the girls around close, arms around each other, heads together muttering and whispering. One would poke her head up and look at the boys, then duck down and more whispering would commence.

Castiel just rolled his eyes and sighed, “I used to be invited in on those…..”A bright neon green nerf ball came sailing out of the huddle and ‘booped’ Cas on his hat. He let out a long suffering ‘woe is me’ sigh. “It’s a good thing I love them so much.”

Dean just grinned and nodded, then leaned over to whisper rather loudly, “Paybacks are a bitch….they’ll get theirs…..”

Cas was about to open his mouth and say more when the door behind them opened and a woman ducked in. She was in her mid-twenties and was clutching her purse close to her body. Her face was pulled with worry and some fear as she looked to the group of teens standing in the record store.

She opened her mouth, her bottom lip trembling and finally said, “Oh….I’m sorry….I….”and her eyes darted away. She turned then to leave, but Sam was quick and gently caught hold of the sleeve of her sweater.

“Wait…”Sam looked at her with wide hazel eyes and his dimples nearly cresting at the corners of his mouth, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a man….he’s been following me…..” She glanced with frightened eyes out toward the street.

Dean and Cas moved over to the small windows in the front entry doors and peered out. They scanned the side street along that face of the store, and then moved over to the big window that faced along Main Street. They peeked through between the closely hung posters of the Rolling Stones and The English Beat currently hanging in the window. They held there looking for a long moment, until Cas’s hand shot out and gripped hold of Dean’s jacket with white knuckles. With his other hand he pointed toward the recessed doorway of the drugstore across the street. Dean could now see a man standing there, waiting and watching the record store with a hard burning stare.

Cas worked his mouth open and dryly said, “Dean…..that…..that’s the man.”

Dean looked over at Castiel, confusion all over his face. “What do you mean?”

Cas looked back at him, his blue eyes wide but angry. “The man who attacked me, the man that blew up on the ceiling of the storage room. That man looks exactly like him.”

Dean’s head snapped back to look across the street and his eyes narrowed. “Twins maybe?” Then he looked back at the woman with Sam, “Hey lady….is this the guy….over there in front of the drug store?”

She came over to the window cautiously and peered out between the posters covering the window. She saw the man, and nodded frantically. She pulled back and Trisha was at her side, placing a reassuring hand on the woman’s arm. She and Katy sat the woman down on the orange corduroy loveseat at the front of the store and Anna went off to get her a cup of water.

Dean and Cas turned away from the window and walked back towards the listening booths in the back, beckoning Sam to join them. Sam did and Christina followed. Once they were all out of the woman’s hearing, Dean glanced up to the office area at the top of the stairs.

“Benny here?” Dean asked Christina.

“No, he’s not. A buddy from back home is in town and they went out to grab a beer.” Christina raised a brow, “Why what’s going on? Cas looks like he’s seen a ghost. And since we’ve all seen weirdo craziness like that before, I’m kinda concerned.”

Cas took in a deep breath and then said, “He looks exactly like the man that attacked me Sunday night.”

Christina blinked, “Twins maybe?”

“That’s what I was wondering.” Dean rubbed the edge of his chin with his finger, “Look, since it happened, Sam and I have been looking into stuff here in town. Looking for other times people were blown apart or died on a ceiling….and we haven’t found anything. No hauntings, and none of the usual demonic omens either. We’ve called my Dad and his friend Rufus. Except for the haunted-ghost-turned-demon crap last December with the theater and the bones…..the town is pretty free and clear of the wacky and weird.”

“Yea but get this…”Sam said and reached into his back pocket, “There was a witch thing…..”

Dean looked at his brother with a slight frown, “What witch thing?”

Sam unfolded a small stack of papers and gave them to Dean to read. Dean took them, skimming over them as Christina snuck a look on her tip toes over his shoulder.

“I found this today….was gonna tell you after the movie tonight.” Sam nodded, “So back in 1901, when most of this town was being built, about twelve guys died all within about four months of each other….”Sam pointed to something on the paper, “Not such a big deal back then with dysentery and bad health habits all over the place except….the way they died.” Sam pulled one of the other pages from the back and brought it forward for Dean to look at. “See…..one guy was somehow he was beheaded by the reigns of his horse….another guy was found burned alive in the loft of his barn, but the rest of the barn was untouched….another guy was found in pieces inside the bank after it had closed for the night and no one knows how anyone got in…”

“So how is this a witch thing?” Dean looked at Sam.

“Getting to that…” Sam flipped the paper over, “The locals all thought this one woman was doing it, said she was ‘hexing’ people and she confessed! They tried her for it in the court house. A judge from the state capitol came into town to preside over it. She was found guilty of six of the murders.”

Castiel looked at Sam, “What happened to her?”

Sam’s eyes went wide and let out a huff, “Hanged her.” He pointed to the corner of the record store, “At the corner of Main Street and 5th street.”

“Well fuck.” Dean exclaimed.

Castiel frowned, “But if she was hung….wouldn’t it be her ghost we are seeing now instead of these men? And that man that attacked me didn’t seem all that ghost like. He was solid….and heavy. That was no ghost exploding all over me and the storage room!” Castiel was pointing back at the room, his hands shaking somewhat and his voice was rising as he spoke.

Dean reached over and gently pulled Castiel’s pointing hand to rest against his chest under his leather jacket, “That’s what we need to figure out. If these things are connected or not.” Dean squeezed Cas’s hand in his.

Castiel took in a breath, clearing his head, “Yes. Of course.”

“I found where they buried her.” Sam said and threw Dean a look.

“Okay.” Dean quickly took a scan of the inside of the record store, mentally cataloguing everyone there. “Here’s what we do. Sam and I will get that lady home safe. We’ll make sure we ghost proof her house and get a devils trap planted in her doorways somehow. Cas, you stay here with your angels and we’ll come back as soon as we’re done. Then once the girls are home safe Sam and I will get to the witch’s grave and pull a salt-n-burn.” Dean winked at Cas, “That should take care of things for tonight at least.”

“Trish will be upset we aren’t seeing….” Cas started to say.

“Tom Cruise? Screw that guy….” Dean made a sour face.

“No assbutt, Rebecca De Mornay.” Castiel squinted at Dean, “We aren’t the only gays in town you know.”

Dean’s brows shot up and Sam chuckled, nudging his fist against Dean’s shoulder. Sam teasingly said, “Smooth move there Potsie.”

“Okay okay.” Dean shoved the papers back into Sam’s hands. “We clear on what’s happening then?”

Christina, Sam and Castiel all nodded, and Sam and Christina began walking back to others at the front of the store. Castiel caught hold of Dean’s jacket and tugged him back into the closest listening booth.

“I want to go with you and Sam.” Castiel leaned his face in close, crowding Dean.

Dean looked down into Castiel’s determined gaze, “Cas….I need you to stay here with them while they are at the store…..I need someone I can trus….”

“No. Go with you on the salt and burn.” Castiel set his jaw as if he would broach no resistance.

“Cas, I dunno…..your mom might kill me….” Dean smirked trying to defuse Castiel’s stubbornness.

“Dean!” Castiel shoved Dean hard against the wall inside the listening booth, placing him behind the door out of sight of the others. “You don’t have to protect and coddle me. I’m not a fragile little doll.” And to emphasize that point, Cas bunched Dean’s jacket into his fists and slammed Dean against the wall again, this time holding him there in his grip. “I schooled you the other day in the alley and I’ll do it again if I have to. I’m coming with you and Sam tonight.”

Dean swallowed, his cheeks glowing and his green eyes luminous and wide in the low light of the listening booth. His heart was thrumming thrilled in his chest and it was sending shocks through his body turning his nerves into live wires. In turn it was arousing the heck out of him and he let out a low soft grunt, “Okay Cas….okay.”

Castiel shoved a little again, but instead of his eyes trained and steely on Dean’s gaze, they dropped hotly to Dean’s lips. Cas held there a half second and then dove in to devour Dean’s mouth with his own, crushing against Dean to pin him with more than just his hands. Cas shoved his tongue into Dean’s mouth roughly and Dean melted like butter beneath it, a new pleased groan reverberating up through his throat.

Castiel suckled Dean’s lips into his mouth fiercely and then as quickly as he had started, he stopped and shoved back away. He dropped his hands from Dean’s jacket releasing Dean. Dean wobbled and felt his knees give away under him, reaching out to steady himself against the stereo cabinet next to him.

Cas brought his sleeve up and wiped his mouth along his forearm, still spearing Dean with a feral look. “Good. And next time we’re in one of these booths together, I’m locking the door and I’m going to bend you over and test just how sound proof these things are.” Castiel turned with a flourish of his coat as he walked away.

Dean stayed there a moment, his thighs shaking for all the right reasons. He breathed in a clipped sigh and smiled, waiting for the hard on in his jeans to calm down so he could walk out into the rest of the store. “Dammit Cas….” He growled out a little but laughed in spite of himself.

Because really, he wouldn’t have things any other way.

~*~


	5. Save a Prayer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas have been out all night and Benny finds them passed out and covered in mud outside in front of the record store. Cas goes to clean up, Benny is working, and Dean is faced with an unpleasant visitor in the store.
> 
>  
> 
> A follow up series to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713  
>  High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and Dean is becoming a hunter.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
>  http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

**Friday – 8:30am**

Benny walked up to the front of his store, his eyes on his mass of keys on his key ring as he picked through them to find the one to use on the front door. As he sifted it from the cluster, he realized his boot had knocked against something on the sidewalk right before the door. He shifted his eyes over and down to find Dean and Cas lumped against the wall next to the doorway.

They were dead asleep, and slumped against each other. There was dried mud all over them, in their hair, smeared on their faces, ground into the knees of their pants. Dean’s head was tipped back and his mouth was wide open. Cas was missing his usual hat and the tiny ribbons in the small braids in his hair looked less Boy George and more homeless crack junkie. Both boys were completely unconscious and making low soft near snore sounds.

Benny raised his brows and chuckled, then he nudged Cas roughly with his boot against the boy’s foot. “Hey princess, wake up.”

Castiel stirred, and blinked up at Benny. Then he half nudged Dean with his elbow, “Wh..what time is it?”

“Daylight lil’ angel. Jus’ open'in the store.” Benny snorted out a low chuckle, “Don’t you boys have school today?”

“Hmmm, evidently we are skipping….” Castiel groaned and sat up more “The life of a hunter isn’t exactly school friendly.” He shook Dean gently with both hands.

Dean startled, his eyes flying open to sit up with a jerk. He looked around them with alarm and then settled to breathe out a relieved sound when he saw Benny. He reached up and shoved the bit of drool from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “Huh….hey Benny….” Dean half smiled, and that whole look of ‘yea I’ve been up to no good’ crossed over his face.

Benny laughed and stepped around them to unlock the door. He jimmied the key, unlocked the door and then held it open for them, “So what mayhem did you two derelicts get up to last night?”

Dean hopped up, wide awake now and offered his hand to Cas to pull him to his feet. Cas took hold and stood, still rubbing his eyes. Dean started to pat himself down, brushing free the dried mud off his clothing as if it were something he did every morning.

“Well?” Benny tipped his head down and leveled a ‘let’s have it boys’ serious look at them both.

“Uh, just….stuff…” Dean half shrugged.

“We were in the cemetery digging up a grave.” Cas said matter of factly, and took off his muddied trench coat. He began to shake it out hard, showering the sidewalk with small pellets of mud chunks.

“Cas!” Dean shot Castiel a frown.

“Yea…Christina called an’ said you were gonna to do that….told me why…” Benny leaned on the doorframe while watching both boys de-mud themselves as best as they could. “So why’re you here?”

“We were chased by the police. They must have seen the fire when they did a patrol past the cemetery. We don’t think they saw us exactly…. so we didn’t want to go back to where we left the Impala and tip off anything. It was closer to walk here and crash than head home.” Dean gave a simple shrug then turned to Cas, “We should call your Mom and Sammy….”

Castiel raised his brows at Dean with an expression that said ‘Obviously’ and gave his coat one last hard shake. He draped it over his arm, then bent over to shuck his fingers through his hair and break free some of the mud there.

“What’s with all the mud?” Benny started to smile, his mouth curving up with an air of mischief.

“In our haste to flee, we ran right into the area where they were watering the grounds,” Cas heaved out a sigh, “And we slid…and skidded down a small hill.”

Dean grinned wide then, “Lost the cops though.”

Benny looked them both over and nodded, still smiling. “I guess I can let you inside….jus’ stay away from th’ record racks. There’s a bathroom upstairs across from th’ office, you can clean up a bit.” He swung his muscular body off from the doorframe and went into the store. He left the door propped open and then flipped on all the lights. After that he went behind the front counter to open the register for business.

Cas made a quick dash for the phone behind the counter while Dean jogged to the back of the store and up the stairs. He vanished down towards the bathroom.

Cas leaned against the back shelves behind the counter, crossed his legs and wrapped his free hand around himself in a half hug as he waited for the phone at his house to pick up. When it did he said somewhat nervously, “Uh, morning Mom….” Then prepared to wince when she yelled. When her voice remained calm, Castiel’s face openly looked somewhat panicked as he listened, “Yes….yes I understand.” Then his face fell and he frowned, “No I know. Yes. Of course.” He was quiet a moment as he listened and then said, “Yes Mom.” Then he hung up.

“Heh, she ain’t happy I take it?” Benny smirked but kept his eyes on counting out the cash in the drawer.

“I got the ‘you should have called’ speech.” Cas’s shoulders drooped. “I’m grounded for the weekend. No Rocky Horror. No going out. It’s work and home and that’s it.”

Benny shrugged, “Well, you did make her worry. And tha’s a mighty uncool thing to do to a Mother.” Benny closed the cash drawer and turned to Castiel, “An’ she coulda done worse. She coulda banned you from Prom.”

Castiel’s eyes went wide. “When’s prom? And how do you know about prom?”

Benny gave a satisfied smile, “It’s weekend after next. And I’m takin’ Christina of course.”

Castiel canted his head slightly and that classic scrutinizing look he uses so often came over his face, “You guys are pretty into each other huh?”

“She’s mah angel.” Benny just shrugged as if that was all the explanation he ever needed to give, and that was just the way the world was supposed to be. Then he wandered back into the storage room to do some work. “Mind the front will ya Cas? As of five minutes ago you’re workin’ today.”

“What?! But….” Cas pushed away from the counter.

“Or you can go home an’ sit around….” Benny offered reminding Cas of his newly grounded status.

“Shit.”

Suddenly warm strong arms came around Castiel’s middle as Dean pressed up against him from behind, “What’s the trouble Cas?” Dean was nudging at his ear and Cas noticed Dean smelled of ivory soap now instead of cemetery mud.

“I called home. I’m grounded.” Cas huffed. “She can’t ground you, but she is putting you on garbage duty all next week….”

Dean reached to tug Castiel’s trench coat off where it was still resting over his arm. “Whatever, go upstairs and wash up a little. I’ll stay until you come back down, then I’ll run back to get the Impala and go home….get us some fresh clothes and bring back something to eat.”

Castiel allowed Dean to take his coat then turned around. Dean’s usual spike of a mohawk was gone, rinsed away with the mud. His hair curled loose against his forehead and made him look sweeter somehow. The mud was gone from his face, neck and arms, and he was without his shirt, simply wearing his leather jacket over his bare torso. Cas quirked his brow as his eyes ran down Dean’s exposed chest.

“Don’t get any ideas….” Dean let out a small laugh, his cheeks brightening. “I need breakfast baby, I am too hungry to fool around right now.”

Cas narrowed his eyes and gave him a deadly serious look as he leaned in close, placing his mouth against Dean’s ear. He nibbled gently at the lobe with his lips and whispered, “You’ll regret that Winchester….” Then he let go and sauntered past Dean to make his way to the stairs in the back.

Dean coughed slightly and rolled his shoulders, then shifted himself inside his jeans. “Dammit Cas…..” He took in a deep breath but smiled anyway and placed Castiel’s coat on the back counter behind the register. He then bent down and turned on the power to the store wide stereo system, clicked on the tape player and sifted through the cassette tapes stored next to it. He paused at Molly Hatchet, then at Billy Idol. He set those aside and then dug around a little more. Then he found one of the mix tapes that Castiel had made and smiled again. It was titled “green eyes / red kiss” and Dean turned it over in his fingers once before he dropped it into the now open cassette drawer. He snapped the drawer shut and hit play, then adjusted the volume a little. [The smooth music of Duran Duran tumbled out over the speakers](http://youtu.be/n_6Kr5e2dYc).

Dean’s nodded a bit to the music and he turned around, then startled. There was a man standing in front of the register on the other side of the counter. The exact same man that had been across the street the night before, stalking the woman who had fled into the record store for safety. The same man who had tried to rape Castiel and wound up in bloody chunks all over the back storage room. He was standing perfectly still and staring with flat haunted eyes directly ahead of himself

“You saw me standing by the wall,  
Corner of a main street  
And the lights are flashing on your window sill  
All alone ain't much fun,  
So you're looking for the thrill  
And you know just what it takes and where to go”

Ever so slowly he turned his head and looked at Dean. His eyes shifted and refocused, lasering in on Dean as his expression changed to something harder, hungrier. He tipped his head down and his mouth curled up into a beastly sneer, and then his eyes blinked once to go solid black. They gleamed like an insect ‘s carapace and Dean jolted back.

“Don't save a prayer for me now,  
Save it 'til the morning after  
No, don't say a prayer for me now,  
Save it 'til the morning after….”

Dean stepped away with bouncing footwork, moving back along behind the front counter. The man didn’t move but followed Dean with his eyes. When Dean reached the end of the counter, he flicked his eyes to the still wide open door at the front of the store fifteen feet away. When Dean looked back to the man, he had abruptly flashed out, vanishing a half second only to reappear at Dean’s right side.

Dean didn’t flinch, didn’t wait. He darted into a full out run for the front door. He reached it, and he heard a wailing screech sound off not far behind him. He dashed out the door of the record store and hauled his body around the corner in front of the store window.

Suddenly the man was in front of him, gurgling and opening his mouth into a wide toothy yawn. Dean swallowed, pivoted and made to run back the way he had come when he felt two meaty hands clasp to the back of his jacket and yank. Grimacing, Dean twisted, angling one shoulder and slipping an arm free from the jacket. He followed the momentum and pulled his other arm free, then kept rolling to the side dancing out into the street free of his jacket and the man’s grip. He sprinted forward and ran for the drug store across the street. Then he glanced to the hardware store next door and headed for there.

He plowed through the entry doors and began to hastily search the store aisles. The man appeared at the end of the row Dean was standing in and began stalking down it. “Rock salt….where is the rock salt??!” Dean yelled out to the older man standing behind the counter, his morning coffee held in mid sip. He openly gawked at what was unfolding in the hardware store before him.

Dean yelled out again, “ROCK SALT?!” when he couldn't find any.

The man stammered, “Don’t got none…it’s spring. In Florida…don’t need it….”

Nearly in a panic now, Dean hustled down another aisle and his eyes lit on two crowbars resting on display along the wall. He snatched one up and whirled around.

The demon man was gone.

Breathing hard, Dean walked up to the front of the store where the older man was standing with his mouth agape. Dean dug a few bucks out of his pocket and tossed them on the counter with a wry smile. He marched out of the store, crowbar firmly in his hand.

“Goddamn demons popping up in the day time….” Dean growled, “Son of a bitch.”

No sooner had his foot hit the sidewalk in front of the music store window, Dean felt a hand slam into the back of his neck, taking hold and gripping tight. He was yanked forward and shoved face first to the ground. The crowbar clattered to the ground and his jaw smacked against the cement hard, scraping open the skin. He felt the bone crack underneath. Immediately there was a heavy weight on his back. The hand on his neck squeezed and pushed, while the other hand raced down along his butt. It squeezed and pinched at Dean's ass cheek, then it lifted up and he could feel the edge of a knife being wedged between the small of his back and the waistband of his jeans. It jerked and there was a tearing sound.

Dean drew his hands under himself, bracing them against the sidewalk near his chest. He knew this thing, this demon, was trying to do to him what it had tried to do to Cas in the storage room. He let out a gnashing grunt and with all his strength he shoved hard with his hands to flip up. He expected resistance. What he didn’t expect was to feel the man fly off away from him completely with a cry.

Dean flipped over to see the man held hovering in the air above him. And then, just as it had happened with Castiel, the man began bleeding profusely from every orifice in his head.

There was a flicker of movement out of the corner of Dean’s eye and he snapped his head in that direction. A woman was standing nearby. She had a long old fashioned dress on, and her hair was piled in a mess atop her head. Her skin was sallow and but her eyes were wild and angry. She had one hand extended out towards Dean and the man, but her focus was purely on the demon. Her face contorted as she squeezed her offered hand into a fierce fist. The moment she did there was a loud splat, and the man was ripped apart from the inside out. Dean was showered with wet chunks of gore and blood and the woman was gone.

Dean lay there, stunned.

“Dean where did you go? I thought you were going to….” Cas rounded the corner of the building and stopped. He took one look at Dean and all the color fled from his face. “…Dean…”

Dean slowly inched his way off the sidewalk, his body hurting from the rough handling. He reached up to feel the wound on the side of his jaw, the blood oozing out pretty generously. He knew he would need to have it checked out if the bone was cracked. He was also splattered with the remains of the demon and he made a disgusted face as he looked down at himself. “I’m okay…I’m okay…just…roughed up a little. Fuck.” Dean bent down to snatch up his jacket and to retrieve the crowbar.

He came to stand in front of Cas and pulled up a weak smile. The mud was gone from Castiel’s face and hair, and he smelled of clean soap. Unlike Dean who now reeked of exploded demon bits. “Well, guess the salt and burn last night was useless…” Dean paused and looked over his shoulder to where the woman had been standing. “…but I think Sam’s info is on the right track. I think I saw the witch or her ghost or something but….. it makes me more confused. Is she summoning the same demon over and over again? And how?? And if she is why is she squashing them over and over again? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Castiel’s brows knit up gently and his eyes went soft. “We’ll figure it out….” Then he canted his head slightly, “Wait…you said demon? It’s not a ghost?”

“She might be but that asshole? No ghost. All solid…his eyes were black. Do you remember if the guy who attacked you had black eyes?” Dean felt back along his waistband to see how bad the knife cut was to his jeans.

“I don’t remember. I was a little freaked out.” Cas replied softly. “Not exactly as trained for all this like you are.”

“Yet!” Dean added.

“Yet.” Cas nodded meeting Dean’s eyes with a little more confidence.

“I’m running to get the Impala then coming right back. Got salt in the trunk we can use all over the record store…then I’ll head home for food and clothes. Let Benny know what happened, neither of you should be alone at any time….and hang on to this.” Dean placed the crowbar into Castiel’s hands.

Castiel took hold and curled his fists around the weight of it. “Got it.”

Dean nodded then moved to trot off, but instead paused. He pounced on Cas, grabbing hold of the teen’s face and smothering his lips to Cas’s in a shaky kiss. He broke it, then kissed Cas again, and again, and once more. Each one slower and longer, deeper and softer. Finally he released Castiel’s lips and placed their foreheads together. Dean let off a deep sigh as if cleaning the tension out of his system. He felt Cas relax a bit under his hands.

“I won’t be long,” Dean let go and stepped away. He jogged a bit down the sidewalk in the direction of the Impala, then he turned and yelled back with a teasing smile, “Play the Molly Hatchet for me when I get back!!”

Castiel simply nodded and squeezed the crowbar in his hands. He watched Dean run off and then he turned to wander back into the record store. He let go of the crowbar from one hand, and with the other brought the heavy iron tool to tap against his shoulder as he walked. His began to smear away the bloody fingerprints Dean had left along the sides of his face with his free hand.

“Flirting with Disaster’??” Cas made a face. “Screw that, I’m going to put the Police on….”

~*~


	6. Because The Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean decides to summon the ghost of the witch he thinks is connected to the demon attacks at the store. But what happens when the ghost that appears starts playing by it's own rules?
> 
>  
> 
> A follow up series to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713  
>  High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and Dean is becoming a hunter.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
>  http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

**Saturday, 9:05pm**

Benny finished taping a sign on the outside of the front doors to the record store. It was just simple poster board paper, white, with black permanent marker words scrawled across it. He secured it with duct tape, not being careful or precious with it. Mainly making sure it would stay put for the night.

The sign read “Closed: Quarterly Inventory Review in Progress”

There really was no inventory review. Benny had made that up so that Cas could stay late at the store, and so they wouldn’t be disturbed in what they were doing. Castiel had cleared it with his mother that he, Dean and Sam would be staying over night to help with the ‘big inventory’ and they had brought sleeping bags and pillows, a change of clothes and their toothbrushes. All of which were now piled on the couch upstairs in Benny’s office.

Benny shut the doors as he came back inside, and locked them. He pulled down the small rolling window shades to cover the windows on the doors so no one could see in. Then he turned around and surveyed what was happening inside his store.

Somewhere the girls, Anna, Trisha, Christina and Katy, had gotten their hands on a large canvas bolt of fabric about ten feet across and ten feet wide. With Dean’s direction, they had painted a large devils trap on it in red paint. They were in the process of rolling it out across the open space of the store in front of the front counter. Over by the orange couch and the seats by the large display window, Dean and Sam were shifting the chairs and coffee table out of the way so they could spread out a smaller one, this painted with a different circular symbol. Nearby Castiel was pulling things like a large bowl and bags of herbs out of one of the big duffle bags Dean had brought with them.

“Well…how’s this gonna go down?” Benny glanced protectively at Christina once before turning a serious look at Dean.

Dean pointed to the fabric he and Sam had just lain down, “This is a summoning circle.” He pointed to the large canvas fabric the girls were straightening out, “That is a devils trap.” Then Dean strode over to a different duffle bag that was beside the door and Benny. He unzipped it and pulled out a shotgun, “This is filled with rock salt.” He handed it to Benny, then bent down to draw out a small box of shells, “Here are refills.” And he placed those in Benny’s other hand. Then he bent down and withdrew the iron crowbar from yesterday. Benny shoved the shells into his back jeans pocket and held out his hand to take the crowbar with a nod. Dean continued, “Me an’ Sam are going to summon the ghost of the witch. We’re going to try to talk to her, get some info. If things go south, and they probably will, Cas and I will bait the ghost or the demon or both. Try to get it to follow us out to the alley behind the store, get it out of here. Then Sam and the girls will seal it out with salt at the back door, the windows, the front doors….like we did yesterday. You get to watch our backs. Shoot or swing at anything that attacks.” Dean flashed Benny a confident grin and slapped the burly man on his back.

“Yea. Real simple. No problem.” Benny growled.

Anna and Trisha were setting bags of salt near the windows and the doors while Katy knelt down to double check the lines on the devils trap. Sam and Cas were unpacking the supplies for the spirit summoning, and Dean bent down to rummage through the rest of his weapons bag. Benny paused, then wandered over to where Christina was standing with a small bag of salt in her hands.

“You okay darlin’?” Benny turned his voice soft and leaned close to her.

“Yea. We’ve done something like this before. Last time it was on the fly under really awful circumstances. It’s nice to be able to walk in with our eyes open and sorta be prepared.” Christina flashed her dark eyes up and Benny, “Are you okay?”

Benny looked at her sideways with a teasing smirk, “Please….I was a mate on a Merchant Marine tanker for three years. Lil’ ol’ ghostie ain’t nuthin’” Yet in his eyes that cool blue shifted a little nervously. He twisted his grip on the shotgun and shoved the crowbar into the hammer loop on his cargo pants.

“Well….” Christina reached up and placed her hand on the back of his neck, then tugged gently down so her lips could meet his in a warm kiss. She leaned back a half a breath and smiled against his mouth, “You’ve got good aim my love.” Then she kissed him again, and this time he leaned into it, devouring her mouth half playfully, half hungrily.

“Man, they’re as bad as Dean an’ Cas…” Sam chuckled as he handed a small hex bag to Katy.

Katy rolled her eyes and the exasperation in her voice was comical, “You have no idea.”

Sam then passed out the rest of the hex bags to everyone else, explaining how they would bounce off any witchcraft tossed their way.

“Okay everyone know what they are doing?” Dean called out. He was arranging a small arsenal of weapons along the couch within reach.

Anna held her hex bag high, then tucked it into her jean pocket and stood next to the large display window. “Salt duty, window position ready.” Trisha mirrored her twin and took her spot by the front doors. Katy leaned against the door to the storage room, idly fingering her hex bag before she stuffed into down the front her bra. “I’ll be over here, at the ready.” She nudged a large bag of salt with her foot. Benny nodded and Christina marched over to stand in front of the counter, then gave Dean an affirming thumbs-up.

Sam stood beside Anna now, a large old book open in his hands. “Summoning ritual ready, exorcism ready”

Dean looked over at Castiel then. Cas had pulled something from the weapons duffle and he was now twisting it in a circle in his hand. It looked like a railroad spike, but it was longer and sharper. He took a spot near Christina and nodded silently to Dean.

“Alright. Here we go.” Dean shifted his shoulders under his leather jacket and rolled his head and neck a little. Then he reached for the first ingredient bag in the pile on the coffee table and the large bowl next to it. He placed the bowl in the center of the summoning circle, then opened the bag and dumped its contents into the bowl. He placed four candles around at each directional corner of the summoning circle and pulled out his lighter. He lit the candles and Sam began the first part of the summoning spell, carefully saying each word with precision.

Dean poured in the rest of the ingredients, then removed an old photo from his pocket and dropped it into the bowl. Lastly he pulled his knife from his boot and sliced his hand open. He squeezed his fist, bleeding into the bowl as Sam continued. As Sam reached the end of the spell, the old photo in the bowl began to glow and rise, turning once then twice before vaporizing into smoke.

Dean and Sam looked up and around the store. Nothing happened.

Dean raised his hand to let the others know to hold still and wait. Another moment passed and then…

The lights in the store flickered, sputtered and then died. As they did the storewide stereo system surged on and the placed was abruptly filled with [the wail of Patti Smith’s voice](http://youtu.be/xACZHv-sLCg):

“Come on now try and understand  
The way I feel when I'm in your hands  
Take my hand come undercover  
They can't hurt you now,  
Can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now…..”

Trisha had jumped with a small squeak when the music came on suddenly, and she locked eyes with Anna. Benny cocked the shotgun and kept scanning the room. Cas reached over, took Christina’s hand and gave it a squeeze once before releasing it again. Then he stepped away from her and moved to the edge of the devils trap without stepping inside. He held the spike weapon with an easy grip and thumbed along the base of the handle. Dean was wrapping up his sliced hand while gripping the knife in his teeth…. but then it fell from his lips and it stuck into the floor next to his foot as he froze.

A form had flickered at the end of one of the record racks and coming fully into view. It was the woman Dean had seen, wearing the same long gown with her hair piled messily on her head. Her eyes were fierce and wrathful and her hands were curled into angry fists.

“Come on now and try to understand  
The way I feel under your command  
Take my hand as the sun descends  
They can't touch you now,  
Can't touch you now, can't touch you now….”

Dean stepped up, approaching the apparition with his hands held up in a placating peaceful gesture. Benny pulled the shotgun closer to his chest, ready to swing it up and fire, while Cas held perfectly still, closer than anyone else to the ghost where he stood.

The ghost turned and looked at Anna first, then her eyes shot over to Trisha, then Katy and Christina. The ghost raised her hand and opened it, then she passed it over her head and the girls all dropped to the ground, limp. Startled, Sam crouched quickly to touch Anna’s throat, the book held open in his other hand. When he felt a pulse he yelled out “She’s okay….”

But Benny was moving, heading to Christina’s side. The ghost snapped her gaze over to him and with a look she sent him crumbling down as well, tumbling unconscious into a heap in front of the register.

“With love we sleep  
With doubt the vicious circle  
Turns and burns  
Without you I cannot live  
Forgive, the yearning burning  
I believe it's time, too real to feel  
So touch me now, touch me now, touch me now  
Because the night belongs to lovers ...”

“Wait!!” Dean called out and held his hands high as if in surrender, “Please!”

The ghost drew herself up and looked at Dean then. Her eyes were boiling and furious. She hissed out a raspy undecipherable word and the music stopped. Then the devils trap caught her attention and she looked at for a long moment. Her eyes flew to Castiel, then Sam, then back at Dean. This time they were wide, surprised and oddly hopeful. She pointed to the devils trap and tried to choke out more words, her eyes pleading. Then in frustration she grasped her throat with her hands and her head sagged.

Dean swallowed once, hard, then took a hesitant step closer, “We want to help. Can you speak?”

She shook her head, and her eyes came up with near panic filling them. She hissed and gestured around her, then pulled her hands in to pound at her chest. She sagged again, and looked back at Sam. Then she saw the book he was holding and her eyes went wide and knowing. She pointed to the book.

“There’s something in the book that can help?” Dean asked, while Sam stood slowly and held the book out, as if offering it to her.

She held up her hand for him to stop and she looked down a moment. Then she looked at each of the girls lying on the floor. In a flicker she was at Christina’s side, bending down over the girl and brushing back her blonde hair from her face. Castiel turned to see the ghost sink her hand into Christina’s back slowly.

“No no no no….”Castiel reached out towards Christina with fear in his eyes. But Dean was at Castiel’s side in a heartbeat, grabbing hold of Cas’s shoulders and holding him back.

“Wait Cas…” Dean pointed as the ghost sank down into Christina. A moment later Christina stood up.

Christina lifted her head, and opened her eyes. Her usual deep chocolate brown eyes were hazy and grey, as if clouded by webs, then they began to burn black and angry as they ghost’s had. Dean could feel Cas slump in his hands as a small dejected noise escaped from his mouth.

“It’s okay Cas, she’ll be okay…trust me…I’ve seen this before….” Dean squeezed Castiel’s shoulder’s tightly and then addressed the ghost, “What’s your name?”

The ghost within Christina spoke, “Heloise. Heloise Matheson.”

“Dean!” Sam said with surprise, “That’s the sister of one of the witch’s victims!”

“Sister?!” Dean glanced at Sam then looked back to Heloise inside Christina. “What? How?”

Heloise extended her arm slowly and then looked down at the top of Christina’s hand with mild curiosity. Then her head snapped up and she spoke to Dean, “The Witch was from another town, distraught that someone had rejected her, hurt her. She took it out on us, slaughtering our young men. She had brought a demon forth and that demon did unspeakable things to those poor souls before it killed them.”

Cas found his feet and straightened, “It raped them…”

“Yes.” Heloise’s sadness radiated out of Christina, “My seventeen year old brother, Evan, was one. I didn’t sleep until I discovered who had slain him…. I found the witch, learned of the demon. I found a hunter, like you, and brought him to town. We stopped the witch but….”

“Not the demon.” Dean frowned.

“It comes through a portal, rebuilds it’s body….over and over again.” She pointed to the devils trap, “But you….you can hold it. Imprison it.”

“But how….how is your spirit here?” Castiel canted his head slightly and frowned with curiosity.

“I had the hunter take my life in a ritual…willingly. He ground my bones and mixed them with the mortar to this building. To protect the hole where the demon comes through. I am bound to it.” She pointed to the corner of the record store.

“Son of a bitch…” Dean let slip out, eyeing the corner where she was pointing. “So you’re trapped here? Forever?!”

“No. Once the portal is closed, I will be freed.” She turned her eyes to each of them one by one, “Close the portal. Imprison the demon. Then all of this will end.” Christina made a choking sound, then convulsed and dropped like a doll to the floor. Heloise ghost floated up and off from Christina, then flickered and vanished.

Sam, Dean and Cas stood there a moment with their hearts hammering inside their chests. Then Benny made a small groaning sound and began to sit up. Soon the others were waking, and pulling themselves off the floor. Castiel helped Christina up, guiding her over to lean next to Benny against the counter. Dean stood looking at the devils trap while he scratched the back base of his spiky Mohawk at the back of his neck.

Sam meanwhile had flopped down into one of the nearby chairs and had begun searching through the old book, reading over every page slowly and carefully.

“What th’ hell happened Dean?!” Benny’s words were surly and unhappy.

“I think we need to get out of here and hit the diner down the block….get some burgers or something and I’ll go over everything while we eat. “ Dean gestured to Christina, “She’s gonna be hungry.”

“I am hungry…like ravenous.” Christina placed one hand lightly over her stomach. “Why am I so hungry Dean? And why does my mouth taste like…blegh….old dusty dried out stale bread…”

Dean smiled, shook his head and began to pack up the weapons into the duffle bag he brought them in.

“Dean….Dean?!” Christina planted her hands firmly on her hips and Benny’s eyebrows shot up in amusement.

Dean bent over and plucked his knife out of the floor, then slid it into his boot. “Uh-uhn. Nope. Not until you have a cheese burger and a milkshake sitting in front of you….”

“Dean….”Christina pleaded one last time, then turned her eyes on Castiel.

“Oh no.” Cas held up his hands in surrender and then bent down to extinguish the candles. “Cheese burger. Milkshake.”

Sam closed the book and smiled bright at Christina, his dimples full blown on his face. He tucked the book under his arm, “Cheese burger. Milkshake.”

“It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers now….” Katy said drolly and wandered over to take hold of Trisha’s hand. Then she reached out to Anna who walked over and clasped their hands together.

Benny handed off the shotgun and the shells and the crowbar to Dean. “I’m not gonna like this am I?” Benny leveled a cold gaze at Dean, his light blue eyes growing icy.

Dean took the weapons and began tucking them into the duffle bag. Just as he looked up to reply to Benny, the lights in the store flickered on. Dean flashed a charming smile to Benny then, and winked. “Cheese burger….”

“And milkshake. Yea I get it.” Benny rolled his eyes and dug his keys from his pocket. “Okay let’s go. “He reached back and waited for Christina to come and take hold of his hand. Then they opened the front doors of the store and walked out onto the sidewalk. The three girls followed with Sam right behind.

Castiel caught Dean’s elbow with his hand and held Dean back a moment. He let the spike slip into the duffle bag then he leaned up and pressed his mouth to Dean’s ear, “We’re still doing ‘inventory’ tonight though…right?”

Warmth burned up over Dean’s cheeks at the implication, “You still want to stay here? With the demon loose?”

“Send Sam home.” Castiel shot a look back over his shoulder at the large devil’s trap in on the floor, then brought his eyes back around. His head was tipped back a little and his gaze was hooded, but Dean could see the heat building there. “We’ll be safe.”

“Are you two coming?” Christina called from outside, impatience edging into her voice as her stomach growled.

Dean grasped Castiel’s hand and pulled them both out of the store and onto the sidewalk. As the group began to move along heading for the diner, and as Benny locked up the store, Dean reached back and gave Cas’s rear a quick firm squeeze. Cas shot him an indignant look but it was undermined by the sudden flush to his face. The grin that exploded over Dean’s mouth completely derailed Cas and they bumped shoulders gingerly.

Dean shook his head, still grinning. “Sex on a devils trap. Cas….you kinky bastard….”

**~*~**


	7. Ain't This The Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to 'Drink the Sea Records'
> 
>  
> 
> A follow up series to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713  
> High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and Dean is becoming a hunter.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
> http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

**Saturday, 11:46pm**

Castiel unlocked the door to the record store, and then pulled the door open for Dean. Dean tromped in, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his shoulders pulled up against his chin. He had a large shiner of a black eye starting to show around his right eye socket and a sour frown to accompany it. Once he was inside, Castiel followed, then shut the door behind and locked it from the inside.

Dean let out the long breath he had been holding in. He raised his brows at Cas, and Cas simply leaned up and placed a kiss on the end of his nose. Then Cas took hold of Dean’s wrist and pulled him over to stand inside the devils trap that was still spread out on the floor from earlier that night.

“I probably should have seen that coming.” Dean nodded, then pressed his chin down against his chest.

“Yea, we probably both should have.” Cas still held on to Dean’s wrist and angled in to look over the black eye carefully. “It could have been worse….” He offered.

“Oh yea. Benny coulda broken my nose.” Dean let out a small laugh, “But you know……I get it.”

“Get what?” Cas titled his head a little, the brim of his hat framing his face like some dark halo.

“Well, if it had been Benny in charge of the whole summoning, and if the ghost had taken a walk in your skin while I was unconscious on the floor, and he just let it happen….” Dean shrugged, “I’d have taken him apart with my bare hands. So yea, I get why he was angry about Christina and the ghost.”

Cas lifted one brow and gave Dean a pointed look. “You could have warned us ahead of time that there might be a possibility of that happening.”

“Yea I know…” Dean frowned, nearly pouting.

“Especially with what happened last time in the theater….” Castiel reminded him, but in a soft low voice. And when the words came out and the memory of Cas’s own possession come to the forefront, Castiel let off a light shiver.

“Yea….” Dean slumped, his leather jacket suddenly looking too big on him, “I know.” His voice sounded wholly apologetic.

Cas kissed him quick and light, “Next time….”

Dean nodded, “I promise.”

Castiel dropped Dean’s hand, and walked over to the duffle bag full of the weapons. He picked it up and hoisted it over his shoulder, then walked back and dropped it just inside of the trap’s edge. “Let’s get our stuff…I’m beat and I am ready to pass out. I brought camping bedrolls along with the sleeping bags. We can set up here and sleep.” He reached into the bag and pulled out the long spike, then turned it over in his hands once.

“You like that huh?” A little smile crept up on the corners of Dean’s mouth.

“I do. What’s it made out of?” Castiel lifted it closer to inspect it. It had a rounded pommel end, a cylindrical handle grip, a ringed edge like disc that almost seemed like a cross guard but didn’t quite flare out enough. The blades sat mounted into a square piece from the guard and then it seemed like the two blades mounted there had been merged to a cross there at the base. Those blades came together to a sharp point at the other end. It had some weight to it and it was a dull iron color. Dean seemed to view it as an iron railroad spike that had been stretched out and scored along the spike to form the blades.

“Dunno. My Dad found it working some case.” Dean moved closer and ran a light finger along the guard, “I bet if we polish it up it would be pretty bitchin’.” Then he ran his fingers over Castiel’s as he came even closer.

Cas drew his eyes way from the spike and looked to Dean. “You’re giving it to me?”

“Sure Cas. Why not? You’re learning to handle yourself pretty well on your own, and you’ve been doing really well training with it….” Dean bent down and pressed a kiss against Castiel’s knuckles, “Plus…” he muttered against the skin, “You look sexy holding it.”

“Is that all you can think about Dean?” The timbre of Castiel’s voice dropped lower and he angled his head quizzically, “Sex?”

Dean grinned against the back of Cas’s fingers and snaked his arms around his boyfriend’s torso, drawing Cas closer, “Not heard complaints from you before….”

“Dean….” Castiel tried to sound annoyed and he tried to leak a hint of ill temper into his voice but instead it came out a tad breathy, “Dean…the sleeping bags?”

Dean nuzzled up Castiel’s arm along the sleeve of the trench coat as he brought their bodies tightly together. “Mmmm hmmmm….upstairs…” He came up to burrow his face under Castiel’s hair at his neck, nudging away the bunch of ribboned braids dangling there.

Cas fought off the smile growing on his face, “Dean….we should get some ice from Benny’s fridge too for your eye….”

Dean shook his head ‘no’ and began nipping and kissing at the patch of skin just under Castiel’s ear while one of Dean’s hands dragged down over Cas’s back. When Castiel whispered a soft ‘please?’ however, Dean relented. “Okay. Okay….” He straightened and slowly released his hold on Cas. When he stepped back a pace, Cas reached to let one finger linger just under the growing bruise around Dean’s eye. Without a word they both turned, stepped out of the devils trap and made their way upstairs to Benny’s office. Cas slid the spiked weapon into the pocket of his trench coat as they climbed the stairs.

Dean loaded up all the sleeping gear and their personal items while Castiel gathered ice from Benny’s small refrigerator icebox. Cas wrapped it in a few layers of paper towels and then both of them went back downstairs.

Once there, Castiel busied himself with unrolling the bedding and layering the sleeping bags so one was unzipped and open on the bottom and the other was unzipped to cover both of them as they slept. Between the thin camping pads, the sleeping bags and the pillows, you could barely see the devils trap beneath it all.

While Cas was doing that, Dean held the ice over his eye with one hand, and with the other he got a few of the ritual candles out. He placed them just at the outside edges of the devils trap, above where their heads would be on the pillows. He lit each one, then walked to the wall and turned off the lights in the store. Above them, the disco ball cluster hanging from the ceiling glittered from the candles and bathed the area in warm flickering light.

Dean fired off a lusty grin at Castiel, “Romantic eh?”

Without replying Cas came over and took Dean’s hand. He guided Dean to sit on the edge of the sleeping bags and bent down to kneel at Dean’s feet. With a little smile playing on his face, Cas began to untie and loosen the laces on Dean’s boots.

“Keep that ice on your eye….”Cas outright commanded as he tugged off Dean’s boots, “I’ll get you undressed.” When the boots were off, Cas planted one hand in the middle of Dean’s chest and shoved him backwards. Dean stretched out with a grin as Cas slowly climbed up over Dean’s legs, then stopped to sit straddling Dean’s thighs.

Cas reached back and pulled off his hat and tossed it back over his shoulder. It sailed a few feet and landed on top of one of the record racks. He titled his head, pointing his chin out at Dean and let a slow subtle smile turn up one corner of his mouth. He watched Dean’s face with half lidded eyes as he shucked his trench coat off his shoulder and let it drop behind his back to drape over Dean’s shins. Then he ran his fingers under the edge of his t-shirt, teasing up the hem of it ever so slightly to show Dean a peek of his lower stomach.

Dean let out a quivering breath and ran his free hand up Castiel’s thigh, “Oh my god Cas….what are you doing to me?” He shifted under Cas’s weight, half sitting up, the fit of his jeans too tight and too strained to ignore anymore. “You’re killing me….”

“Actually…” came a man’s voice to Dean’s left, “That’s _my_ job.”

One moment they had been alone in the store, and then next moment the demon was standing beside them on the sleeping bags. He was dressed exactly as he had been before, same meatsuit of a man, same clothing. And the same large knife was fisted tight in his grip. He glared down at both teens and his mouth was pulled into a wide feral grimace. “Of course, we’ll have a little fun before that.”

The demon’s empty hand shot out and took Castiel’s hair at the crown, digging his fingers in and gaining a fast hold there. A loud wincing gasp came out of Castiel’s mouth as he hands flew up to take hold of the demon’s hand, trying to pry it off his head. The demon shook Cas hard, the lifted him up. As Cas cried out in pain, the demon jerked and flung Cas away to send him crashing into the front doors of the store. Then the demon reached down to get a fist full of the front of Dean’s shirt. The demon yanked him up so their faces were an inch apart. Dean swung up with the ice pack to punch it into the side of the demon’s face, but the demon blocked it with his other arm.

“I’m going to fuck both of you until you bleed to death…and writhe around on your corpses with your intestines as my belt.” The demon opened his mouth and shoved his lips on Dean’s, smashing their faces together. It pried Dean’s mouth open with its tongue and then shoved in deep when it breached Dean’s lips. It forced a trickle of its oily smoky essence into Dean’s mouth and down his throat.

When the demon broke the kiss and it left Dean choking and gasping, his eyes rolling back into his head. The demon dropped Dean limp against the sleeping bags, then rolled Dean over onto his face using its foot. It sat on the back of Dean’s legs. One hand greedily groped at Dean’s ass while the other brought the knife around to slowly draw it down Dean’s back. As it did, it cut into Dean’s shirt but didn't break his skin yet. Dean convulsed weakly as his mouth went slack.

Cas stirred and rolled sideways to press his shoulder against the door. He curled his body and sat up, using the door to support him. His left shoulder felt as if a hundred knives were lancing him over and over again and his left arm hung useless against his body. He shook his head, looking up just as the demon began to cut through the back of Dean’s jeans. In less than a second Castiel took in Dean’s helpless form, his unseeing eyes and the way one of his hands cupped oddly against the floor. The ice pack had tumbled from Dean’s hand and was now melting slowly near his twitching fingers.

Instinctively Cas’s right hand went for the spike weapon and it shot down to the trench coat pocket that was usually at his side. Abruptly he realized he wasn’t wearing his coat and that it was lying in a heap at the edge of the devils trap.

“The trap!” Cas almost said it aloud. The demon was in the trap. If he could just get Dean out….Cas grit his teeth and stood up, then launched himself off the doors. He careened forward and stumbled to his knees at the edge of the devils trap, his right hand digging into the fabric of his trench coat now.

The demon’s head shot up and looked at Cas. Then a slow menacing grin wormed its way across its mouth. It took hold of the denim of Dean’s jeans and ripped it open, exposing Dean’s skin. The demon hissed at Castiel, “Wait your turn.” Then one of its hands lashed out as if to backhand Cas across the face.

Instead of connecting with Castiel, it slammed against the barrier of the devils trap and the demon flinched back.

Cas blinked once and pulled his trench coat close. His right hand frantically snaked into the coat searching for the pocket, for the spike. He got his knees, then his feet under himself and stood up.

The demon gnashed his teeth and spit in Castiel’s direction, “Still have _him_ though, don’t I?!” Then it placed its knife between its teeth and both hands grabbed hold of Dean’s hips. It shoved them up, and brought its own crotch flush against Dean’s exposed backside. Then its hand slithered in between them to begin to fumble open its pants.

Cas was mutely aware of all this, as well as how he was aware of the burp of stomach bile that was working its way up his throat. But he was far more keenly aware of the feel of the spike weapon as his fingers closed around its hilt. Cas clamped his jaw closed hard, and shook the coat away from the spike. In two steps he was in the devils trap, standing over the demon, looking down as it attempted to violate Dean.

The demon’s face came up, its hard cold black eyes met Castiel’s. It didn’t land on the usual deep soft blue that lived there within Cas’s gaze. Instead the blue was sharp, righteous and unbending. The demon let out a strange surprised sound.

With a flick of his wrist the spike flipped in Cas’s hand. His hand came up and then in a flash the point of the spike was buried in the center of the demon’s chest.

The demon bent backwards, its arms flailing as it began to scream out. The area around its chest where the spike stabbed in began to burn and glow like hot embers and fire. The area sizzled and spat sparks out, and it grew fast to riddle up the demon’s chest, down its stomach, across its arms and down its legs. The demon spasmed as it was consumed with the searing flames and soon bright flashes of fire were pouring out of its screaming mouth and its gaping eyes. The demon shuddered and shook and soon it was little more than a pile of steaming ash. The spike blade dropped to a thump in the center.

Cas dropped to his knees beside Dean as Dean began to choke and cough, nearly wreching as he spit black goo out of his mouth. Castiel rolled Dean over ever so gently, then pulled him into a fierce embrace despite the grunt of pain escaping Cas from his shoulder wound. Cas buried his head against Dean’s neck and held him as tight as possible to keep his own hands from shaking.

“Cas….” Dean croaked out, “….that was badass Cas…”

“I think my shoulder is out of whack.” Cas huffed angrily into Dean’s shoulder. Then he glanced up to see that there was someone standing beside the edge of the devils trap. Startled, Cas jerked. He twisted Dean away as if to protect Dean with his own body, the hand that had held the spike now jutting out flat as in warning.

Heloise was standing beside them.

“H…Heloise!” Cas gasped out in surprise, and Dean blinked up astonished as well.

Silently she began to bow to them, over and over again. Her face was over come with gratitude and relief. She gestured to the pile of ash and mouthed, 'Gone! Gone! Gone!' She bowed again, and the hard ghost like quality in her eyes began to soften and fade. Faint trails of happy tears glimmered down her cheeks. She kept saying ‘thank you thank you’ over and over as she washed away into a faint shimmering silver light. Then she was gone.

Cas and Dean sat there trembling and silent as they processed through their shock. Finally Dean pulled away and took a look at Castiel’s shoulder. He had Cas lean forward, and then Dean braced himself, his palms lining up the shoulder to snap it back. Dean had done this for his father, John, many times when John had come back from a rough hunt. He steadied his stance, then with a quick motion popped Castiel’s shoulder back in place. Cas cried out when it happened, then just hung his head down and bit his lip.

Then they slowly turned to each other and fell together in relief. They clung to each other, wrapping their arms and their bodies together just holding each other and saying nothing. Eventually they slumped together against the sleeping bags and passed out, crashing from the adrenaline. At some point in the cool hours before dawn, they had managed to wrap one of the sleeping bags around themselves without getting ash all over themselves. They stayed huddled together and quiet until the sun had long burned its way into the sky.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Sunday, 10:30am**

The sound of a key in the front door caught Dean’s ears and he sat up. Groggy from sleep he looked over to see Benny and Christina coming through the front entry to the store, closing the doors behind them. When they turned to see Cas lumped and bundled in the sleeping bags with Dean beside him, melted candle wax on the floor and a large pile of ash on the other side, both Benny and Christina stopped and raised their eyebrows.

Dean nudged Cas, then smiled weakly at Benny, “Uh, sorry about the mess.”

Benny tapped his own eye in the area where Dean’s black eye now shone out in mottled shades of purple, blue and yellow, “Sorry ‘bout th’ eye.”

“Yea well….” Dean shrugged, drawing his knees up under the sleeping bag and giving his friends a warmer smile, “I had it coming.”

“Looks like you guys had some party here last night….” Christina smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Castiel rolled over and sat up, his usually tousled hair looking even more so now, “We slew the demon. And the ghost lady is gone now as well.”

“This house is clean.” Dean mimicked the quote from the movie ‘Poltergeist’.

Benny chuckled and shook his head. “Good to hear. How about I open th’ store late today and we head back to that dinner for breakfast…my treat. You boys could probably use a stack of pancakes about now.”

“Awesome!” Dean began to stand, then stopped, remembering the back of his jeans were torn open as the cold air touched his backside. “But uh…I need some pants first.” He looked sheepishly at Benny and Christina.

“So it _was_ that kind of a party last night afterall….” Christina winked at them with a grin.

“Sadly no….” Castiel stood up, his pants and shirt on, along with his boots still, “Dean and I weren’t able to have sexual relations last night after the attack. It didn’t seem appropriate.” Dean shot Castiel an uncomfortable look and Cas just rolled his eyes as well as his sore shoulder.

“Okay….how ‘bout we meet you boys at th’ diner then. I don't ever need to see your bare ass Dean. No offense.….” Benny casually reached over and took hold of Christina’s hand, then turned to leave. Christina kept smiling and waved at Dean and Cas as they exited.

After they left, Dean began to scrunch the tattered denim jeans off his body. Then he pulled his shirt off, frowning at the long knife slice through the back. Cas went to his backpack and pulled out a pair of his trousers and one of his t-shirts, then handed them to Dean. The shirt said '[Ain't this the Life](http://youtu.be/oLH4-RQReWQ)' on one side and 'Oingo Boingo' on the other. As Dean took the clothing, he also took hold of Cas and pulled him in close for several lingering kisses, not caring that he was completely naked.

Dean smiled against Castiel’s mouth, “You were bitchin’ last night.”

One brow quirked up and Cas just smirked.

“I know.”

**~*~ FIN ~*~  
**


	8. The Look of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue for the 'Drink the Sea Records' series.  
> Bonus porn for those brave souls who have stuck with this from the start. My sincere thanks for reading!
> 
>  
> 
> A follow up series to 'In the Name of Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/638733/chapters/1157713  
>  High School AU where the Supernatural exists, and Dean is becoming a hunter.
> 
> 8-Tracks Compliation Mix is up online!  
>  http://8tracks.com/nhyrvana/drink-the-sea-records

**Friday, 7:25pm – Two Months Later**

Dean leaned against the outer edge of the corner; his back half against the wall while his other half was exposed to the air in front of the entryway to the record store. His honey coloured hair was spiked up and he had kohl pencil smudged around the rims of his bright green eyes. He was wearing his tight black jeans with various chains draped to dangle around the edge of one hip and his black Doc Martin boots. He also had on his white tank shirt that had the Sex Pistols’ ‘God Save The Queen’ graphic silk screened on it and his black leather motorcycle jacket on over that despite the summer heat. He fidgeted with one of the earrings in his ear and looked at his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes.

After they had rid Benny’s store of the demon, the ghost of Heloise never showed up again. In the weeks that followed, the place was supernaturally quiet. Meanwhile Prom had come along, and Dean had taken Cas with no small amount of scandalous gossip at school. Along with threats to ban them from the dance itself if they had shown up, threats that Castiel’s mother had taken as a challenge. She went all the way to the top of the county school administration, enlisting the help of a sympathetic news reporter who smelled a cutting edge human-interest story, and barreled over anyone who got even slightly huffy about two boys going to prom together.

Dean admired the hell out of Cas’s mom, and deep down he wished his mother, Mary, and her had been friends. He’s pretty confident they would have liked each other a lot. He also knows for a fact that Castiel’s mother is one of the few people on the planet that makes John Winchester shut up and listen. So when she asked John if Sam could stay and live with her until the end of his high school years, amazingly John had said yes.

Dean just wished Florida and New York City weren’t so far apart. It was going to put a lot of miles on his Baby driving back and forth between seeing Cas at school at Juliard when he went in the fall, and seeing Sam down here in Florida. But that was a few months away.

Dean, Cas and the girls Cas had grown up with had just graduated a few weeks before, and they had the whole summer stretched out before them now.

Dean reached back and pulled his wallet from his back pocket, flipped it open and pulled out the few pictures he kept in there. One was of he and Sam on the hood of the Impala. The next was the one they took of he and Cas at prom… Cas in his tux but still wearing his trench coat, Dean in a tux too but his hair spiked up and tinted the color of green grass. The last picture was of he and Cas at graduation with Anna, Trisha, Katy and Christina. They were all bunched together, nearly piled on each other, their caps askew and their faces bright with laughter.

Anna, Trisha and Katy had taken off to backpack around Europe for the summer, which meant Cas was working more at the record store to cover Anna’s shifts. Cas said he looked forward to it, as it gave him a chance to build up his funds before he left for school in the fall. Christina had bypassed all this and started her college courses already, eager to get on with school and get out to start her life.

Dean was pretty eager tonight himself, but it had nothing to do with school, or hunting, or Sam. It had everything to do with Castiel Novak working just inside the store Dean was loitering in front of. They had a date tonight after Cas got off work at ten o’clock, but Dean wasn’t sure if he could wait that long. Especially with the way Cas kept looking over his shoulder at Dean through the doorway.

Dean rolled his body around the corner so he could look back into the store more.

Castiel was at the record racks, sorting through the stacks of vinyl to replace albums that had been miscategorized or put under the wrong alphabetical section. And Castiel’s focus was primarily on what he was doing, however once in a long while he would glance over his shoulder to zero in on Dean with those deep intensely blue eyes of his briefly. It was driving Dean crazy. He was accustomed to the long lingering held staring fits they would have, and these short glances were the ultimate tease.

Dean slunk up to hover just outside the open doorway. He peered in to see Benny at the cash register helping a customer and talking about how blues guitarists influenced rock and roll. Benny’s whole focus was on the customer as they bantered back and forth. Then Dean’s eyes slipped back over to Cas.

Cas hair was at all angles and mussed senseless. He had on a Cure t-shirt whose neckline was so wide and floppy the edge of the shirt occasionally dipped over Cas’s shoulder, exposing his skin outright as he moved and worked. The trench coat was across the room behind the counter along with Cas’s usual hat. Once in a blue moon it was too warm to work in and today was one of those days. Dean was thrilled because it allowed that shoulder to peek out now, and Dean loved how Castiel was all lean honed muscle from their training together. Dean let his eyes drop lower and he noticed that Cas was wearing the vintage tuxedo pants he had worn to prom. They fit snug across Castiel’s rump and Dean openly stared at how the fabric moved over their roundness when Cas would shift his weight from foot to foot. The memory of being able to peel them off Cas in the back of the Impala after prom was over sent a rush of heat through Dean that wound up pooling in the front of his jeans.

It also placed an idea into Dean’s head.

He glanced at Benny once more, then sauntered into the record store and over to Cas. He drew up alongside his boyfriend, and began to browse through the records to Castiel’s right.

“Hmmm, Kylie Minogue, Kiss, Kris Kross, Kenny Rogers…..” Dean sighed as he flipped through the stack, “….oh…Kajagoogoo…Kraftwerk yea that’s good…..” Then he found something that made him smile wide and wicked. He picked up the record and turned to Cas, bumping Cas with his knee purposefully.

Cas was trying to ignore him, “Dean, I’m working…”

Dean leaned in and breathed warmly against Cas’s exposed shoulder. “Are the listening booths available?”

Cas stopped what he was doing but didn’t look at Dean. “Yes….why?” The suspicion in his voice wasn’t hidden.

Dean’s answer was an obscene leering smile, but he said out loud, “I’d like to listen to this please, see if I like it….to purchase it…with money….like a customer.”

Cas feigned supreme annoyance by rolling his eyes, but then he rattled off a heavy sigh and plucked the record from Dean’s grasp without looking at it. He made his way back to one of the booths and opened the door to the one whose interior is painted a deep blue. He gestured for Dean to enter before him, but Dean was still sporting that smile so Castiel just walked in without him. Dean slipped in after, carefully closing the door and dropping the handle latch down so it caused the door to stick shut. It’s something Benny keeps talking about fixing but has yet to do.

Cas busied himself with opening the turntable cover, placing the record on the spindle and flicking on the private booth stereo system. The booths are designed to hold sound in and not let it be heard in the rest of the store. Castiel adjusted the equalizer knobs slightly, without seeing Dean rummaging into the rest of the sound system components.

A moment later Dean pressed himself up along Castiel’s back, pinning him slightly to the shelves that held the stereo and the small interior bass bin speakers.

“Dean….” Cas made an attept to turn, but Dean wouldn’t let him budge. Instead Dean slipped a set of headphones over Castiel’s ears and adjusted them to fit snugly. “Dean….what are you doing?”

“I think this is much better don’t you?” Dean’s voice came through the headphones in stereo into Castiel’s head.

“Dean how…” Cas twisted to look behind him and Dean allowed it. In Dean’s hand was one of the microphones kept in storage under the stereo. It was plugged into an auxiliary sound unit the same as the headphones. Dean reached around Cas and carefully placed the needle on the record. Then Dean turned Cas around fully so they faced each other. The music filled the listening booth but didn’t come through the headphones.

Three inches of space gaped between their bodies, but Cas could feel the waves of carnal heat pouring off of Dean. He opened his mouth to protest but Dean placed one finger over Cas’s mouth to silence him. Dean leaned in then and kissed Castiel slowly, purposefully and with unshakeable intent. Dean took his time and lavished Castiel’s mouth with his. They kissed and licked and suckled each other and when Cas finally let off a soft breathy moan it was caught in the microphone to echo back into his ears. On hearing that, Cas quivered and it made Dean give off a low breathy chuckle. That also came through the headphones, dancing into Cas’s ears.

“Oh god….Dean….” Castiel’s heart was speeding up, thumping with an increased cadence in time with the vibration from the stereo beat coming up through his body.

“Oh yea….” Dean said, his voice husky and deep. The sound of it went straight through the headphones and shot through Cas’s body. Dean rocked his hips, humping his erection against the one now growing in Castiel’s trousers.

Cas found himself gripping hold of the shelves with his hands to keep himself from buckling to the floor. His breath was quicker now, coming in shorter jags and little gasps. He let his head drop back as his hips fell into rhythm with Dean’s.

Dean was making small soft half grunts into the microphone now and Cas let off a full hot gasp. Dean took that as his cue and he dragged his body down along Cas’s, sinking to his knees. He kept the microphone in his hand and with the other he fingered open the hook closure on Cas’s pants. Soon Castiel’s trousers were pooled around his ankles and Dean was latching his mouth to the skin on Cas’s hip. Dean groaned softly and began to suck at the skin, letting the sounds hit the microphone full on.

A louder gasp came from Cas as those sounds filtered into the headphones. Cas was fully aroused now, his shaft was rail hard and the crown of his cock was this gorgeous shade of rose. Dean hovered over it with his mouth, then purred into the microphone.

“The things I want to do to you Cas…”Dean growled into the mic, making certain his voice rolled low and sultry over the system into Cas’s ears. His lush green eyes flashed up to Cas as he spoke. “First I’m going to take you into my mouth and I’m going to suck you down, slurp, and lick…..I am gonna pull the pleasure out of you with my mouth…make you cry for more…”

“….Ddddeannnn…” was all Cas could muster and it came out followed by a broken whine. His thighs were trembling and his knuckles were gripped white to keep himself standing. And his eyes were dazed. Those deep blue dusty irises nearly swept back into his head.

Dean hummed into the mic, then captured the head of Cas’s cock in his mouth. He sucked and slurped and made all manner of raunchy noises as he did, the sound caught in the mic and sent straight into Cas’s head to vibrate and bounce around. He would suck and drag his mouth off, then nearly gulp Cas back in, and then take his time just kissing sloppily over the head.

Above him Castiel was shattered. He panted and squirmed and called out in clipped rasping groans. His whole body was trembling now, not just his thighs. Dean was coming apart as well. He had begun to rut his own swollen cock against his hand and eventually worked his jeans open so he could stroke and rub his own length. Dean was starting to fill the mic with a mix of the lewd sounds from his mouth on Cas’s shaft and his own needy moans.

“Cum for me Cas…..cmmmnnnnn..” Dean clasped his mouth back tight around Cas and drank him down. Cas whimpered helplessly and then bucked once. He came hard and it shot out of him feeling like a long hot whip was being draw right out from his body. He called out in a moan low enough to rival the bass coming from the speakers behind him while Dean just slurped him down.

Cas crumbled when it was over, dropping to his knees and pushing Dean back mindlessly. He shoved Dean to the floor, bending him in half against the booth wall and devoured Dean’s cock with his mouth. Dean dragged in a quick breath, nearly hissing as he felt himself on the receiving end of what he had just dished out. And he let all of the shocking fantastic sensation pour out of his mouth, into the mic and into Cas’s head.

Less than four full heartbeats later Dean shook with his own orgasm, eyes clamped shut as he cried out silently with the intensity of it. He jerked softly as it washed through him, his lips whispering Cas’s name. After he calmed, the mic tumbled from his fingers as Cas dragged the headphones away from his head. Cas crawled up to cradle Dean into his arms and they both shivered against each other as they came down from the orgasm high.

[“All I'm saying, it takes a lot to love you](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)  
[ All I'm doing, you know it's true](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)  
[ All I mean now, there's one thing](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)  
[ Yes one thing that turns this grey sky to blue](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)  
  
[ That's the look, that's the look](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)  
[ The look of love…..”](http://youtu.be/pIeggnBzITA)

Slowly Cas became aware of the music playing in the listening booth with them. He lifted his head and gave Dean a very grave look, “This…isn’t…..shouldn’t be in the ‘K’ section….”

Dean didn’t open his eyes and just let a languid grin play over his face, “Huh. I guess someone isn’t doing their job very well…….”

Outside in the main part of the store Benny heard a muffled crash coming from inside the listening booth with the blue walls. He pulled the phone away from his ear and hollered out, “Anyone hurt in there?”

The booth door cracked open a sliver, and Cas half peeked out. “Dean is dead but the equipment is fine.” Cas said deadpan. “Nothing to worry about.”

“No….I’m okay….” Dean’s weak and wobbly voice came floating out before Cas shut the door again.

Benny brought the phone back up, “It’s nuthin darlin’. See you after closing tonight. Yea babe, I love you too…..” He hung up the phone and wandered back into the storage behind the front counter, shaking his head and chuckling the whole way.

“(That's the look that's the look) sisters and brothers  
(that's the look that's the look) should help each other  
(that's the look that's the look) ooh ooh ooh heaven's above  
  
(That's the look that's the look) hip hip hooray  
(that's the look that's the look) yippie ay yippie ay yea  
(that's the look that's the look) be lucky in love look of love……”

**~*~**

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Supernatural and its original characters and themes are the property of The CW Network etc.


End file.
